5c...

I guess it could've happened to anyone. Kinda. I guess it could be called an accident. Sorta. I guess there are many people in grief after the explosion on 20 April in the Gulf of Mexico on board the oil rigger 'DEEPWATER HORIZON' killed 11 crew members. But... I DON'T CARE!! I can't believe it, but I don't.

What I do care about is the irreversible damage that has been done. That's still happening. As per National Geographic, there are approximately 210,000 gallons (that's nearly 800,000 liters) of oil pouring out into the ocean on a daily basis. Each and every day since 20 April. Can you even begin to imagine? One website has a running calculator, showing that over 81.8 million gallons (nearly 310 million liters!) of oil has spewed into the sea to date. The spill covers more than 4,000 miles (approx 6,500km) and threatens to ruin many fragile ecosystems - it's nothing short of disgusting.

I realise it's expensive and that there's a lot to sort out, but something drastic has to be done. And fast. I know that President Obama is fully behind clean up operations, as too is David Cameron, the British president. We all know that BP has a responsibility to cap the leak, at their own expense, I just don't believe that this is being done quickly enough.

While the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico doesn't directly affect us in South Africa, we have previously been affected by spills of our own and are fully aware of the devastation that can be caused to the coast and marine life. Since I am far away and there is little I can do to help, I have decided to avoid the convenient BP station in our road, until this mess has been sorted out.

What will you do??

Sue X

Winter Wonderland...

On the spur of the moment (we literally decided, packed the car and were on the road within half an hour), we decided to go through to Ceres on Tuesday afternoon for the night. There'd been reports of snow falls in the Ceres mountains and we weren't going to miss out! We spent the night in a bungalow in the Pine Forest and woke up to rain on Wednesday morning (it was a public holiday). Because we expected the rain to have melted all the snow, we staying in bed longer than we should have, before heading out of town and into the Mattroosberg Nature Reserve at about 8:30am. I cannot tell you how cold it was, especially on Tuesday night and I was SO grateful to be sharing a bed with Jake - nothing beats having another body in bed next to you, to help keep you warm.

This is the sight that awaited us at the entrance to the Mattroosberg...

There was quite a bit of traffic and we queued up for a while before paying our fare and being allowed into the reserve...

We were thrilled with the little puddles of snow next to the road...An Afro snow lady...This one looks a bit like a gargoyle...And these two look like mourners at a funeral. Funny how each and every snow person is so different from the next...These guys had the right idea - bacon and eggs, with beers kept cold in the snowman... The view as we walked towards the thicker snow... A perfect snowball gathered on top of a protea... Very exciting stuff... As we climbed higher, the snow thickened... Look how cold Jake's nose is... A pretty, cold protea...This is where we stopped to play. Beautiful!!!The beginnings of a snowman...Everybody was having fun, laughing and playing - such a treat for us all...As you can see, the snow was a little patchy, so I couldn't make my snow angel... Some people brought along special clothes to dress their snow people into. These guys were proudly South African and fully supporting the Bafana Bafana boys ahead of their game last night. Which they lost, 3-0. Shocker...

They even made a ball for their soccer man...

After a little while in the snow, Jake began to get cold and very grumpy. We weren't properly dressed and I'd highly recommend wellington boots over takkies (sneakers) for anyone else planning a trip to the snow...I had to carry Jake to our snowman to get a picture of him with it...Throwing snowballs at me...Behind my camera, I was an easy target. Nobody seemed to concerned about damaging my camera. Then again, it is pretty stuffed already...Getting into the swing of things! Jake moaned last night that his arm's sore from throwing snowballs...Ummm... not for me, right?Having a taste of clean snow...Having a word with the snowman... Another sulk about cold feet. I love this photo, but in all fairness, Jake had been up vomitting during the night...This is the smile cost me R5.00...Time to go home and time to take back his scarf. I think my dad felt a little sorry for our snowman being so naked in the harsh weather... Now you be good and don't go melting away tomorrow... I thought he looked quite happy to see us go... There were lots more new snowmen built up on the way back to the car. Some people are really good and others just haven't got a clue... This one looked malnourished...And this one fat, but happy...Another proudly South African snowman...Since everyone else was doing it, we built a little snowman to ride on our bonnet. He lasted about 30 minutes before sliding off the side...
Yesterday's holiday was finished off with Bafana Bafana's match against Uruguay. I was picked up and went to watch with some friends and had a fabulous evening. Just a pity about the end result!!

Sue XXX