Because I could watch you

 

Nasty weather in Ballito on the Dolphin Coast (Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa) (reports of hail storms inland), cold for this time of the year, and two Laughing Doves (Spilopelia senegalensis) seeking shelter on my patio. 🖤

They are the most common little dove found in South Africa and are a resident breeder in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Western Australia.

Males and females look the same, but they can be distinguished from one another by the male’s courtship bobbing up and down when pursuimg a female. Mating pairs are monogamous and often mate for life.

because

i could watch you

for a single minute

i found 

a thousand things

that i love

about you

— unknown

This is where I live (4)

This is where it all happens -- my workstation. 

 

It ebbs and flows

 It ebbs and flows

and comes and goes ...

It’s a year since I lost my fur baby to cancer and it still ebbs and flows and comes and goes. 

RIP Jacko.

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Pic credit: Sam Toft

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This is where I live (3)

 

View from my bedroom window -- Sunset over the sugarcane.

This is where I live (2)

 

Early-morning mist -- view from my patio.

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This is where I live (1)

 This is where I live. No, not right under the Palm tree, just close-by.

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After the chaos, blue skies

After the storm — Ballito, Dolphin Coast, KwaZulu Natal

Once in a while

I am struck

all over again...

by just how blue

the sky appears…

on wind-played

autumn mornings,

blue enough

to bruise a heart.

—Sanober Khan

A few days before I took this picture, KwaZulu Natal (South Africa) was devastated by the worst floods in 60 years. Days of heavy rain (we had more than 240mm of rain in 24 hours)  across the province led to deadly floods, destroying several thousand homes and killing hundreds. So waking up to this incredibly blue sky yesterday morning after a week of stormy weather was absolutely glorious!

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