The Power

So the other night i am feeding my tropical fish and normally all or most of them swim right up to the surface to eat when from the corner of my eye i spotted a pair of kribensis in the bottom corner of the tank. They did not come up to eat and on closer inspection i saw that they were gaurding a nest of eggs and some very very newly hatched fry.  The fry looked like swimming eggs.  2 or 3 fish were swimming around the nest trying to eat the fry but both parents where on watch and any fish swimming closer than a few centimetres to the nest were chased away. 

I watched in awe as the mom picked up stray fry with her mouth and put them back into the nest with the other eggs/fry. Amazing stuff. 

The last time I had kribensis and succesfully bred with them was way back in 1980!  This also reminded me of when I had a marine tank and the one specific coral, commonly known as a frogspawn would "flower'. This is a stony coral which resembles the fingers of your hand. On the tip of these fingers is a very very very thin skin which under the right conditions can flower (enough light, flow of water etc). The flower very much resembles the tentacles of an anemone. To describe this is very difficult and this coral and its beauty has to be seen to be believed. How can a piece of stone, flower...?? Believe me, it has life and it does!!

The lingering thought always when I look at nature and its wonders is: "look how God created this". Surely the power of The higher power is far more than we can imagine or can conceive.  God is great, Allahu Akbar :)

ROUND N ROUND WE GO

so i have'nt had the time or did not make the time to put some thoughts to paper...but something hit me a little...the RAT race urgghhh

wake up work sleep wake up work sleep n so the time flies by and bye with the same ol same ol, day in n day out! same as a hamster in a wheel...running NO where fast.

what to do? not born with a copper/silver/brass/gold spoon in the mouth, so to leave a better life for the next generation, i guess, this is what all must do..

such is life

what to write

its chilly overcast morning on my side of planet world and i feel a little floo'ish and have a small case of the sniffles. anything to creep back into bed and catchup on much needed sleep. too many things happening across the world and too many things on my mind. ok ok i lie..excuses excuses!

ramadan is nearly at an end. in a few days time, its back to normal and the spiritual fulfilment of this blessed month will long be forgotten. how quick the days went by and yet its still a 24hr day but the time just flew! i am definitely going to miss it, this year in particular i made a concerted effort to follow a lecture series at a mosque 20 mins drive from home when my mosque is a mere 500m away! sacrifice ya!

listening to someone explain a book that i read years ago just opened up those stories for me and gave them life and gave me many many lessons. i will definitely treasure this.

FOOD FOOD

yesterday a friend and i decided to visit a sprawling "sub economic" area of cape town called delft.
delft is an area close to the cape town international airport and is a sprawl of low cost housing and by now i reckon it could easily be home to a million people.

we were planning on breaking fast at one of the many mosques in the area and had brought a pot of food along so that the congregants who were present for the evening prayer could join us and we them in the iftaar.

upon our arrival, we were greeted by a queue of people outside the mosque waiting for food. the mosque runs a food kitchen and apparently this is the deal every evening now in ramadan with people waiting for handouts. looking through the line i counted at least 12 able bodied males and females who looked that they did not have a worry in the world and to them this was just another free meal.

there were many hungry faces as well, people with deep concern and worry about the next for as luck might have it, the chicken curry and rice arrived late.

when it all was dished up and everyone had their little bowls and plates filled and sad worried faces turned to smiling ones, i was left contemplating that what if the people of this poor mosque had asked those able bodied people for assistance....would they have assisted them in the same way that food was given to them without question.

my resounding answer is...NO!

i hope to be proven wrong sometime...

FASTING

so today is the start of ramadan. fasting from food n drink amongst other things but feasting on food for the spirit and soul. its only day one and so far it is going really quick. i am 4 hours in, with about 8 more to go. a few days into the month, one does experience a physical change (weight loss etc) but also a spiritual change cos fasting for sure does humble you.
a good reminder once a year for 30 days or so what everyday must feel and be like for someone who has nothing to eat and drink for days on end. at night we can at least indulge in delicious meals and go sleep in warm beds, what about the poor the needy the lost and the destitute. i hope that for me, this month is fulfilling spiritually...we all tend to wander (wonder?) sometimes and this is a perfect reminder to get back on the straight and narrow path and to get closer to God via prayer, reading qur'an and  introspection.... 

happy fasting, ramadan mabrook, ramadan kareem

Misty Morning

so today its misty outside. so much so that it hides my view of the mountain completely. yes, the steenberg mountain range is a few km's away from me and i have a beautiful view of it including the road called ou kaapseweg (old cape road) that on a clear day and if i strain my eyes i can actually see the cars driving on the road!! supposed to be winter here in my side of planet world but the last few days have been summer. the seasons have become confusing not only for me ( i dont know what to wear) but more so for the animals and the trees. the birds are breeding and the trees who just went to sleep a few weeks ago are already waking up thinking that its spring. sign of the end of days as predicted? changes in the weather patterns, natural disasters, tall buildings etc we wait and see...

What to Write

so as a 1st time blogger and ranter and raver of note...and by rave, i mean of not the dancing type. lets see how this goes. random thoughts of mine for all (none?) to see! yeeehhaaaa