Grass

As I was mindlessly wandering up and down the lawn, being pulled along by the mower, I was dreaming of kenya - Kisii to be geographically precise.

Here I am, mowing a lawn that stretches to about ¼acre. What a waste of time and space. In Kenya, this land would be put to good use, growing crops to feed the family.

My friend in Kisii could not believe we have so much non-productive land.

He has a strip of grass running along the house, but the rest of his land, as well as a plot he bought, was all freshly tilled ready for planting.

So here I was, mowing this lawn, wondering how much food I could grow if I turned the land over to vegetables.

What makes this worse, is that attached to the property, we have a paddock of about 1 acre. Now that, in Kenya would almost be a self-sufficient farm and my paddock is just brambles, weeds and ragwort!

How Lucky We Are ...

We just don't realise, do we? We take so much for granted.

You are thirsty? Have a drink of water ... from the tap or a beer from the fridge.

Cold? Switch the electric fire or central heating on.

Need to go somewhere? Jump in the car, or at worst, on a bus, running to a regular timetable.

So what is this rant leading to?

Stuck as I am in the UK, with many friends and business associates in Kenya, any communication is usually over the internet, email, Skype, MSN Messenger, etc. This of course relies on the power not being cut and the telphone lines working.

But, from time to time, I have to send things by post. Remeber the post? Writing the address on an envelope, sticking a stamp on it and putting it in a letter box?

Then, if it is going abroad, filling in a Customs label, trying to make the contents as uninteresting as possible, so that it does not atract Import Duty, and more importantly, catch the eye of some postal worker who is looking for something to acquire.

Well, in this last, I seem to be sadly lacking.

I have recently sent a parcel containing some small computer accessories to a friend in Kenya. It didn't arrive.

I have sent some official forms to Nairobi and they haven't arrived either.

It just doesn't happen over here. If we post something, it arrives.

This is assuming that the mail gets lost over there, rather than over here, of course. But I think this is a safe assumption.