11 March 2021

FOUR HUNDREDth POST … and farewell.

Instead of flora and fauna – this one is about people.. The random order is more or less the time I took or received the photos. Kiki’s hair will be a recurring feature. Actually, now his hair is so long, I think I’d better call him by his given name.

One favorite Keith hair style is this pair of topknots.

Sweet Ashmita was leaving at the end of the day. “What is your favorite plant or animal here?” I asked. “Geese!” she replied.

We managed.to get her and geese in one frame. A rooster wants a piece of the action.

Nobody else feels like taking photos yet.

Kiki – oops, Keith and I walk up to the pavillion after school one afternoon. We didn’t actually walk over to Beamer’s grave, but she is there.

I cannot close out this blog and not mention my dear sweet mother-in-law, who was with us from the beginning.

Keith’s hair is unrestrained in the afternoons.

.It’s a real mop.

He and his Granddaddy have been growing their hair out ever since Monica lost hers. (I wanted to shave my head in solidarity, but that earned resounding NO’s from EVERYBODY)

Nicole sent over a photo of little Keanu. Jumper is his favorite

It amazes me how little ones can bond with animals that are so much bigger than they are.

Next day for Keith it was a single topknot .

I took a selfie with hibiscus.

I love hibiscus because it proclaims TROPICS! We’ve had it everywhere we have lived since we got married.

And I start kind of threatening people that they aren’t going to like the photos I choose out of my archives if we don’t get new pictures ... I become a pest.

Monica is rushing out to an appointment in town, but lets me snap her by some flowers. Look at that beautiful fuzz on her head! And baby due in just a few weeks.

Austin finally mails me a photo. He is not here.

He is back at Plantation Island Resort doing more coral work. Here he is with a trainee.

Akka is a hero and cuts down foliage that was blocking my wifi signal.

I could not believe that a few leaves could stop a signal when wifi goes through walls in a house just fine. Akka explains to me that WATER interferes with the signal a lot more, and leaves hold onto a lot of water. OH. Well, my signal works now. Thanks.

Ok, I’m cheating. The following photo was from the morning.

Keith and braids. I wanted a photo of his braids. He did not want to get braids – the process hurts. (but don’t they look good!)

The sun is down – I’m thinking I’ll just use the old wedding photo of Junia and Nicole when I finally get emails from them.

Nicole chose the mimosa or “Persian silk tree” – which she likes because it is so pretty and it makes her think of spring.

Junia chose star apple … and wrote us an educational paragraph: My favourite I’m holding but the plant behind me is Chrysophyllum cainito. I love it due to the bronze/gold colour of the underside of the leaf while the top side is evergreen.  The tree is very drought tolerant with really dense wood.  One of its common names is star apple, the fruit has a delicious core with a purple thick skin.  The bats, birds and other insects love star apple.. .so when it ripens, the early bird gets the worm.

(Good grief – I didn’t even know we had star apples on the farm … doubtless because of those early worms, bats, birds and insects.)

Now I realize I didn’t think to get a photo of Rakesh – he’s my Rakhee brother for crying out loud and is here at the farm every day. Rakesh was always down in his workshop when I was thinking about pictures. And how could I never have taken photos of the folks who come to do the yard work every week, especially Naholo and Naomi who have been with us for years? I only hope these end-of-blog regrets help me avert some end-of-life regrets.

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Friends, thank you so much for having joined us over the years. Vinaka vakalevu.

I am now planning to turn my attention to my other, utterly neglected blog : https://ffwrcelebratebahaicalendar.wordpress.com/ where I intend to spend a year posting a short thought piece once a Baha’i month (every 19 days). You are warmly invited to see if I manage to achieve this. ha ha.

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During the mop head day, Keith saw a heart on the ground. He was so impressed, he insisted I phograph it.

So I did.

LOVE AND JOY TO YOU ALL.

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