News

In America: Chicken lays golden egg!
Next day: Kansas chicken lays golden egg!
20 minutes later: Farmer Brown’s 5 week old chicken laid golden egg in upright position
Next: Chicken with golden egg ate grain from Mr. Murphy Silentspoon’s store.
Then next head line : Chicken tinted with blue feathers, had never laid eggs before.
And the next: Chicken linage traced back to Cleveland Ohio.
Chicken is given special care, it dies of old age and is placed in a museum.

In Africa: A chicken lays an egg which is golden.
Next day: Chicken dies
It's eaten and that's it.

Americans’ uncover everything they can find on a story. It’s discussed, analysed and broken down until you are fed up. They will scrutinize the words spoken, the way they were spoken, the possible thoughts, moods, expressions – every angle. The public is either satisfied with no further questions or wonders what other twists and turns could be included.


Federal judge Sotomayor, nominated by President Obama to be next Supreme Court justice is a perfect example. If she survives the lines of fire coming her way she will be the first Hispanic justice and third female justice in US high court. She has been grilled, turned over, reversed inside out, squeezed and shaken for over 4 months.
Now, if only Uganda could borrow a leaf, issues like Faith Mwondha and the global fund troubles would be justifiably history.

Notes from Arizona

June 22nd

It’s rejuvenating to escape from the hustle of my mundane life, put my feet up, fold my hands behind my head, take a deep breath, close my eyes and smile. God is good! My life is upside down, I don’t know what tomorrow brings, not sure where I should be at this point in life but in spite of all that, it is well with my soul. From whence my source comes ? – I haven’t the slightest clue. How my life will span out? – I really don’t know. Not that I care less but I can’t deny that this higher power, the force that spoke the world into existence is reshaping my life.

I’m living in a beautiful Hyatt hotel in Phoenix Arizona. I never imagined that I would be persuaded into driving 15 hours to any destination let alone this amazing, desert-ish, cactus infested land. But here we are.
I don’t get to cook a meal for a whole week – awesome!! Feels like an ice cold coke on a blazing hot summer day.
I’m having some serious one on one moments with Mich - aww!
Listening to his articulated thoughts on what he makes of this world, it’s evident that perceptions are already molded: some can be reshaped while others are inscribed.
And so I kneel down to pray –
“Heavenly Father, thank you for this gift, help me to shape and build his little heart for your kingdom. I can not express how daunting the task is, hold my hand for on my own I fail miserably”

Phoenix reminds me of Philly and down town Dallas. It’s smoldering hot, but what’s new?! Arizona is semi desert yet beautiful in the same breath. I love the way they have taken the Rocky Mountains, hard earth, and spiky cactus and created some awesome art. I dream of Karamoja’s potential and what it will look like when it becomes a center of focus or when some rich men decide to invest there (in 416 years time).

The people are almost friendly, they are not stand offs but they are not entirely embracing either. It's ok, I don’t mind.
The city is spread out; there is a lot to see, do and eat. Tourist spots all over the place, we will see how much I can pack into 5 days. Kid’s activities are paramount; I don’t need to explain why.

Halfway

I mourned MJ longer than I had anticipated ; now, I get up and dust myself off.
When my grand children ask how I got nicknamed "Mjay", I will enthrall them with my tale.
When they say - "Fo shizzle grizzle?" (For sure granma?) , I will delight in humoring them.


'09 has unveiled some over the top events that have left my eyes spinning in my head.

~ The recession turns the tables all over the world upside down.
~ U.S innaugurates its first black president - whoa!
~ Owino catches fire
~ Maddof, fraudster of the century, is exposed by his sons and sentenced to 150 years in jail - He got it coming! "Give us back our money you scammer you!"
~ Air France plane crush;- 228 aboard, 228 fatalities - my heart goes out to the families
~Susan Boyles' becomes an internet sensation in her 40's - Good for her.
~ Mzee Kakamega dies, Mugabe Kaijuka dies, Michael Jackson dies, Billy Mays dies, Farrah Fawcett dies, David Carradine dies... former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun jumps to his death.
Friends, relatives and neighbors have died - probably not world famous but precious nontheless.

And we are only halfway through the year, what does the second half present?
If its more of the same then, ...

It's all smoke

Today, the shell of the shy and soft spoken guy will be lowered 6 feet under.
Where is he? - A priceless question, no doubt.

He worked hard, did what he did best and captivated the crowds. They pursued him in a passionate stampede, trampled him, and while some remain to mourn, others rush passed, eyes transfixed on their next victim.



Musings from King Solomon in Ecclesiastes :

- He arrived naked from the womb of his mother; He'll leave in the same condition—with nothing. This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.

- When I realized that my fate's the same as the fool's, I had to ask myself, "So why bother being wise?" It's all smoke, nothing but smoke.
The smart and the stupid both disappear out of sight. In a day or two they're both forgotten. Yes, both the smart and the stupid die, and that's it.

- I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It's smoke—and spitting into the wind.
And I hated everything I'd accomplished and accumulated on this earth. I can't take it with me—no, I have to leave it to whoever comes after me. Whether they're worthy or worthless—and who's to tell?—they'll take over the earthly results of my intense thinking and hard work. Smoke.

- Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends. The body is put back in the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

- The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. And that's it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil.

(The message bible)

Aliens

My efforts to capture 4th of July fire works on camera.