OBSESSIVE COMPLUSIVE
- 13/11/2007 <--Prev : Next-->
HeHoo says I am Obsessive Compulsive !! Cheek, I just need something to take my mind
off things that's all !!
Everyone in Zimbabwe must have a little O.C. in them.
It helps to take one's mind off ones underlying niggling anxieties and irritations at the
ridiculous situation under which one lives these days.
I used to undertake in some rather fraught "Frog Flaying" as my particular Magnificent
Obsession -then next door's pool filter went on the blink, and their pool turned green.
The frogs now seem to prefer their green slimy cesspool to my sparkling lily pond, and so
now I listen smugly to the distant croaking, but I do miss my nightly frog forays.
Turning my energy to another obsession was important, and so I decided on "Snail
Slaying". This is not very "green" I know but it had to be a toss up between having a
garden and not having a garden at all.
Crushed egg shells were my previous favourite form of snail bait, as we have a plethora of
Heuglins, Coucals, Babblers, Thrushes and Barbets, but the snail population has grown so
tremendously recently, probably due to the fact that we have one of the the only green
spots left in the Bulawayo !
Now I would like to point out that I do not actually slay the snails, I put them carefully in a
bucket, (and as I did with the frogs,) and take them down to the Matsheumhlope River at
first light.....
Snail slaying also allows one time to go through ones three essential daily thought
processes - thinking, worrying and recriminating. .....
Thinking about the next order for food and essential supplies which must be obtained
either from my Black Market man called "Under Cover Brother" or procured from Botswana
using Pula which must also be obtained from my other Black Market Man called "Deep
Cover Brother" (Of course my avourite Aunt send me pula, I would never ever actually buy
it !!)
Worrying about the folk in Matabeleland North who are known to have absolutely nothing
to eat. They buy sugar from the Zambian truckers ploughing their way through to South
Africa, and I have heard from two sources that they are surviving on sugar water....... .
Worrying about the soup kitchen which needs to be established for the Old Folk who do
not have the energy, the money or the wherewithal to cope with the hunting and gathering
of food and supplies and the cooking thereof..... .
Recriminating is the next step. Are we wise to continue staying here in this crazy place ?
Why did our parents not leave in 1965 when UDI was declared ?
Why did we not leave at the next big exodus when all the men were on continuous army
call-up during the seventies ?
Why did we not leave in 1980 when majority rule was declared ?
Why did we not see the light in the mid eighties when the evilness of Gukuruhundi swept
through Matabeleland ?
Why did we not leave in 1996 when the economy was booming and we could have sold our
homes and farms and made a fortune and left for greener pastures ?
Why did we not leave in 2002 when the rosiness turned ugly, the other side of the Toby
Jug face was exposed, and the farm invasions began in all their horror ?
Why why why are we still here with businesses closing left right and centre ? Madness has
enveloped the country's rulers and no one dares to try and do business. Buying and selling
under the stipulated conditions is economic suicide .....
As I clamber around my glorious snail ridden garden, dogs and cats eagerly "helping" me
to spot snails... the last chatterings of the birds can be heard as they settle down for the
night.
The quaint squeaking of the fruit bats takes the place of the Heuglins magnificent melody.
The evening is cool, the wind brushes my face promising a cooler day tomorrow and the
smell of rain is in the distant air. I am, I am sure, in Heaven !!
"Gone with the Wind" was undoubtedly my favourite book of all time and so many
quotations come to mind from that book.....
"The land is the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying
for, because it's the only thing that lasts" said Gerald O'Hara
How about this one from Scarlet O'Hara herself "As God is my witness, as God is my
witness they're not going to lick me! I'm going to live through this and when it's all over,
I'll never be hungry again! No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill! As
God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!"
And so to bed, all is quiet on the snail front, I know they are out there in their droves
waiting to come munch munch munch across to my newly planted gypsophyllia ......
But I wont think about that cos, to quote Scarlet again "If I do I'll go crazy....
I'll think about that tomorrow "
The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.
--Author Unknown
"The block of granite which was an
obstacle in the path of the weak
Becomes a stepping stone in the path
of the strong."
- Thomas Carlyle -
