Unknown's avatar

Here’s some slow motion excitement – an update on my tomatoes

by

Heavy rain was forecast about a week ago, so I put on my biggest, most waterproofest hat and rushed this little prima donna/primo uomo indoors, and its lived there ever since.

It seems to me that it’s loving the indoor life, one of its ‘love apples’ going cheerful as Aperol almost instantly. The others still look a bit shy, but I’m hopeful.

Meanwhile it turned out that the day of heavy storms was not as bad as I thought it would be, at least not over us. So, perhaps my panic was a bit over primed, but maybe that’s what comes with being responsible for a star guest – in fact, this year, the only star guest on this blog, the only celebrity even. No idea who else would stand in … and we’ve got an interview scheduled for later in the year.

I’ll keep you posted.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

Unknown's avatar

While things are up in the air …

by

While Zimbabwe votes, two ‘up in the air’ events have been on the news here.

The first happened in Pakistan, where some teenage school children and two of their teachers, were trapped in a cable car high above a gorge for fourteen hours. The footage made the situation look so precarious and perilous, the car swinging from just one cable, as first a military helicopter attempted a rescue, and then rescuers on a zipwire. The helicopter managed to extract one child, but the wind conditions and the effect of the rotor blades on the dangling car, were too dangerous for the helicopter mission to be repeated. Thankfully those on the zipwire managed to save the rest.

Meanwhile, neighbouring India has just celebrated the world’s first successful soft landing near the south pole of the moon. This too is being widely celebrated, except perhaps by those who hoped to get there first. Russia’s rocket, attempting to do the same thing, crashed landed a few days earlier.

To me these two events show so much about the extremes of life, and us as a species. The cable car rescue, set against the backdrop of rural necessity, showcased deep humanity and courage, while the landing on the shadowy side of the moon was all about the precise execution of soaring ambition.

Somewhere in between the two are most of the rest of us, holding on tight.

(The photograph at the top of this is of a full moon in London, and, if I remember correctly, I caught it shining through the bars of a crane).

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

Unknown's avatar

Zimbabwe’s voting day, and something Michelle Obama said

by

It’s hard to describe the conflicted feelings that must sit in the being of every Zimbabwean faced with the decision of whether or not to go to vote tomorrow, especially if they have the courage to even consider voting for the opposition.

“Why?” you might ask peering in from the outside. “Things don’t look so smooth there. How long have these chaps been in charge?”

“Over 40 years.”

“40 years!!!”

Looks obvious, seems obvious … but when wall-to-wall propaganda smothers any perceived cracks in its narrative, things get difficult. And they are difficult. Yet, amazingly, the political arena still holds, and the opposition candidates keep coming, upright despite being surrounded by the debris from previous elections. They are brave and persistent, and they have their plan, despite the odds.

I have no idea how this election will turn out, but I so hope Zimbabweans will be able to cast their votes in peace, and that they will want to do so. Taking part is not just for them but for their children, and their children’s children, and for the right to say they did their bit.

Back to Michelle Obama – we were scrolling through Netflix the other night, and came across ‘Becoming’ which follows the book tour she did after her years as First Lady. Her charisma is so evident, as is the personal effort she dedicated to her life on show in the White House. At the end of the documentary, in a car heading somewhere, she says:

“After all that work, they just couldn’t be bothered to vote at all. That’s my trauma.”

Michelle Obama

Thinking of you, Zimbabwe.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023