...Tales of Life in Mozambique: Unlocking the Mystery

I have a hobby that some people here find rather curious: I collect old pieces of weathered or burnt wood. To me, they're fascinating.

My "beautiful wood"

Not everyone shares my enthusiasm. "It's just firewood," they say. That's true, it does look like "just firewood". So much so that at times when these odd pieces are discovered in the back of our truck, they get chucked onto our firewood heap by mistake. (At the moment I'm trying to track down a piece of ebony I got the other day that I fear has ended up in smoke.)

The reason old pieces of wood fascinate me so much is that they have a lot of character. Each one has a story to tell. They all possess a certain beauty, too...albeit a bit hidden. If you're willing to invest the time and effort though, the beauty and some of the history comes through. In a way, they're a bit like people.

But back to my story. I took the following photo 3 years ago and forgot about it.

A few months back while on a walk I discovered a "new" piece of beautiful wood and brought it home, washed it, sanded it, and varnished it.

I was pleased with how it turned out, but it was obviously part of some sort of structure. There were "missing pieces". Curiosity got the best of me so I went back to the area where I discovered it. In doing so, I realized that it was the lintel for an old door when I actually managed to find and recover the two adjoining sides to the door jamb. One of the pieces still had the rusted padlock attached (top photo). I felt pretty privileged to have recovered all 3 pieces of wood which have survived countless bush fires, intact.

Anyway, once I was done cleaning, sanding and varnishing the lintel, I took a photo. When I took the photo, I realized I'd taken a photo of this piece of wood before.

July 2011

I went back through old photos and sure enough...

August 2008

It was rather uncanny to realize that I'd found and photographed this piece of wood 3 years before in its original location and state.

Let me catch up on the week's news though.

I took the usual mid-week trip to the school clinic to work with Ernesto for aawhile. I packed up my emergency box and tool box with the plan to do health assessments AND install the much needed counter top. But half way there, I realized I'd forgotten the drill. Well, we used all our allotted time just doing paperwork and seeing a some sick people anyway.

The mission was donated reams of orange paper some time back. Makes for a colorful desk top!

Ernesto changing dressings on chronic leg wounds on one young man. The rickety table to his right is where the counter top is supposed to go in. Next time, when I remember to take the drill. :)

There was a bit of local excitement also this week as our area was visited by the provincial governor (governess, actually). Here, Dwight and Joao await her arrival.

She is welcomed to the community with brightly colored banners,

and crowds of people.

Since we've been away, it's been awhile since I posted photos of progress on any of the construction projects. Here, the training center roof trusses are all up and roofing tiles are now being put on the 2nd and 3rd sections.

View from the opposite side.

Foundations were poured for the maintenance workshop. Foundations never make for exciting photos, but they're important nonetheless.

And last but not least this week, Alta and Urs celebrated their birthdays so we got together and made an evening of it. We had supper and desert, then planned to set off the "fireworks" the guys found in Chimoio that day.

They were mysterious fireworks, really. The tube looked like the normal fireworks variety, but it clearly stated: "Fun! Fun! No Firework." Words around the top of the tube also read, "New edition nil powder environmental protection type fireworks display." (Just a hunch that this company's first language is not English...) We weren't sure what to think. It's dry at this time of year so we were a bit concerned about taking it outside where the bush is like tinder and could catch fire so easily...IF there was any kind of spark involved. But the more we read the label, the more it became apparent that this was pretty low key, safe, and spark free.

So we decided to take the plunge inside the house. We curiously peeled back the top foil, slowly eased the release button, and POOF! Out came a ton of brightly colored confetti!