Flea Market

A Flea Market is: A market, usually held outdoors, where antiques, used household goods, and curios are sold so says Wikipidea.

Every Sunday in our town, May thru September, there is a flea market. It's fun to walk the bazaars in search of anything attractive. I remember last year I found a Panga (machete) not for use in Kenyan elections gone awry but for landscaping around the yard. So when it opened last week, we took a stroll after church. It got me thinking, why is it called a flea market?

I did some reading and found out that the original flea market is likely to be the Marché aux puces of Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is a large, long-established outdoor bazaar, one of four in Paris. They earned their name from the flea-infested clothing and rags sold there. From the late 17th century, the makeshift open-air market in the town of Saint-Ouen began as temporary stalls and benches among the fields and market gardens where ragpickers exchanged their findings for a small sum.

So next time you get to go to a flea market, there is a slight chance that the flea is part of the market. How about that?

"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing" Matt 20:3

Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy Birthday (and a day) Kim!!! Indeed it is a blessing to see another year! May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and yours as you start a new year in your life. May your life always count for something and may the works of your hands release a blessing for you through the lips of those whose lives you touch!

As I think of birthdays and age and all that comes with it, I am drawn to consider some deep wisdom that came from the lips of a 5-year old last Sunday. First of all she asked me “Aunty what do you want to be when you grow up?” Now to me that question went deeper than she obviously intended. Hmmmmmm….what do I want to be when I grow up? That made me think – have I become what I wanted to be when I was her age? Have I grown up yet? (I would like to think so!) Is it obvious even to a 5year old that I am not yet what I am supposed be? And is it too late for any of us to say "I want to be a --- when I grow up?

Another nugget of wisdom from this dear wise little Miss was her comment when she heard me say “I don’t know” in response to something. Her immediate response was “Aunty how can you say that - all grown-ups know everything!” Now I know that she will grow up to discover (sadly) that grown-ups do not know that much. In fact this is such a well-known “secret” that someone had the bright idea to start a hit show called “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” Makes me think that if young ones have such confidence in our knowledge and depend upon it, then we ought to try learn and expand our knowledge as much as we can.

Oh, one more thought provoking question “Aunty where do birds go to church?” and the answer by the same deep thinker… “They have a nest which has not bird in it and then they all go there for church”. See, that is why I think I should be hanging out more with 5year olds. I might just think deeper and become a little smarter!

Many things to ponder about on your birthday Kim….that plus anti-wrinkle creams and hair loss prevention!!! Happy Birthday!

Where have I been?

OK Kim you have finally drawn me out from under this rock where I have been hiding ……and maybe it is a good thing that I have been in hiding…All my intended blogs would have been angry and in the form of whining and complaining! Starting from the incomprehensible, mind-boggling mess that was the Kenyan situation from early this year. All the blogs that I read and the emails that were being hurled around (some unsolicited spam at that!) were so disgusting and angering in terms of their tribal animosity and discrimination that I felt I might just have been one angry, sensible but feeble voice crying in the wilderness! I was overwhelmed! So I retreated, speechless but in prayer.

Then came school work, coupled with regular work and a million baby showers (I am still trying to figure out why April was laden with baby showers and birthdays- even calculating 9 months backwards still does not give me satisfactory answers) But I have been very fortunate to celebrate with my friends the birth of their newborns. It is a joy to see these first time parents so excited and grateful to God for the miracle and gift of a new life.

As for the school work, I am relearning to be a student and I am finding the hard way that procrastination is a very BAD thing! You always pay for it with stress, sleep-deprivation and unnecessary disquiet! But I do not think that it is going to change much for me since my best work is borne under pressure! Thankfully the Semester is over and I can breathe a while.

I have also been dealing with migraines – real ones – no cause for alarm as I have had these for a long time… The trigger(s) are unknown and there are no permanent solutions. The Doctor’s "educated guesses" makes me conclude that it is just another curse that some women have to deal with! Then there have been new friendships and the excitement thereof, and the phone bills that follow …(you know who you are!). I am truly blessed…

So right now I am battling with the dreaded seasonal allergies – I escaped last allergy season and I thought I was done for good, spoke highly of the vitamins that I was taking (though sporadically). I still think very highly of the supplements but somehow the crazy sneezing, itchy eyes and throat are back with a vengeance and now I am going back to prescriptions etc. There must be a way to beat this thing without stuffing oneself with drugs and pills. Anyway, I am back – back to the blogger’s world – WATCH THIS SPACE!!