Timing Is Everything

A Flap Necked chameleon catches a bug on the wall of our house. (Yes, that's his tongue.)

I have tried to get this shot many times over the years, with many other chameleons, but have never managed to. Until now. They say the acceleration of a chameleon’s tongue is 50 g’s…5 times that of an F16 fighter jet. So what chance did I have of getting a shot just as that ballistic tongue flashed out? Probably almost nil. But sometimes, the timing is just right.

Speaking of chance and probability, this is a photo of my office wall plastered with statistics formulas on recipe cards and note sheets.
I'm doing a course in statistics and my completion deadline is April 1st (which is also the deadline for having the health manual done so it can go to press—yikes!), so I better get my timing right for finishing everything up by then!

We've had some long, dry spells this "rainy" season. But last week, it rained and rained. We’re very thankful for the rain. But last week also, between us all, we had many piles of laundry to do. Washing wasn’t a problem, but drying it all while it rained, was. So I strung what seemed like miles of clothesline on my veranda so we could get it all dry.

This photo is only the front veranda. The side veranda also sported several crisscrossing lines loaded with wet laundry which hung limply and watched the rain come down outside. Even after 3 days some of the clothes were still damp, so that wasn’t the best timing. At all.

Timing last week was pretty good for Bero though, who had to make a trip to South Africa for surgery on his arm. There happened to be room on the return flights with the U.S. (Hardwyk) team that had been with us the previous week, so he hopped on board with them. This means that on his flight down, he was surrounded by some pretty cool people! When he arrived at Mercy Air, Rick and Heather were still here (from seeing Rick’s folks off after their visit here), so they helped make him feel at home. They took a day drive to Kruger Park so Bero could see some animals.

What a great day for him! Then they took him to hospital for his surgery on Feb. 24th. (Thanks for the great shots of Bero, Heather!)

Meanwhile, Dwight and Andy were on a flight further north in Mozambique to assess the desperate hunger situation.

Below: Pastor Ricardo and Andy with local pastors in Tambara.

They met up with Mattias Reuter, of Mercy Air, who flew them to remote sites in the chopper.

(Thanks for the photos Andy. Click here to read Dwight’s blog entry about their visit.)

Also last week, Carey and Jeff wrapped up their 3 months with us. (They look FAR too happy to be headed back home :P) On our way to South Africa to care for Bero after his surgery and bring him home, we dropped the guys off at the Beira airport to catch their flight out. So that was pretty good timing too. ☺

So we now have a few days in South Africa before we head back home again with Bero. He is keeping himself busy with reading (really likes his Bible), watching his favorite DVD: The Story of David, and making friends. Here, he and a new friend chat via online Google Translate (he types Portuguese, she types English, internet translates). Cool, huh?

Over the next few days, there will be appointments to keep and things to pick up and do, as per usual. I’m also really hoping to cover some ground on my stats course and on the health manual. Here’s to hoping I can time it right and meet that April 1st deadline!