Lance Greenfield's Blog, page 41
January 14, 2018
Kisu ya Samaki
“Ejoka!”
The two Turkanan fisherman were visibly startled by my greeting. No British soldier had ever said “Hello” to them in their own language. As far as they knew, no British soldier had ever spoken to any Turkanan tribesman in his own language before today.
They recovered quickly and responded with a chorus of “Ejoka!” This was rapidly followed by a stream of words that were totally unintelligible to me. Although my conversational Swahili was already fairly good, my Turkanan was limited to a single word: “Ejoka.”
I explained this to them in Swahili. They saw the funny side and the three of us were soon laughing together at the misunderstanding. They welcomed me into the relative cool in the shadow of their beached boat and offered me a tin mug filled with hot tea and a piece of their mealie. I accepted with an “Asanti sana.” Thank you very much.
I sat on the carved wooden stool that they proudly offered me. The tea was disgusting but the mealie was palatable. I smiled at them, giving the impression that I was enjoying my feast. Both men smelled revolting, smeared in animal fat in the belief that it protected their skin from the powerful rays of the sun. I learned that their names, or at least the English names that they had adopted for themselves, were Gordon and Michael. The mismatch of these names and the pair of almost naked, northern Kenyans who were sitting in front of me, made me giggle.
Both men wore viatu ya rubba tyre. These are very durable shoes, made from vehicle tyres. The soles are cut from the tread of the tyre and the cross traps and heal straps are cut from the thin walls of the tyre. The Turkanan tribesmen usually either wear this type of shoe or go barefoot.
Michael boasted a pair of Army shorts. Other than his shoes, Gordon was completely naked. Well, almost. Each of them wore a very strange bracelet. It looked like a thin disk of metal, worn perpendicular to the wrist, with a thin strip of leather between the metal and the skin, and another around the outside circumference. I was intrigued.
Our conversation continued for about an hour. They told me how they took their boat out on the lake each morning before sunrise so that they could fish for three or four hours before the heat of the day drove them back to the shore to take shelter. In the evening, they would go out on the lake again for a couple of hours before sunset. Some days, they would catch nothing, but most days they would catch enough to take home to feed their families. On a good day, perhaps once a week, they would catch an excess and be able to take it to the chef in the lodge, who would reward them well. They were very happy with their lives.
Already, I had become a friend. “Come to see us again, rafiki yetu,” said Gordon.
“I would love to. Perhaps I can come out fishing with you one morning?”
Ndio! Ndio! Yes! Yes!”
I bid them farewell and headed back to camp.
Over the next few days, I stopped and talked to Gordon and Michael whenever I got the chance. I learned a few more words of Turkanan, but we conversed, mainly, in Swahili. I would often ask them about their curious bracelets. Al they would say was, “You will see!”
Eventually, we arranged a day when I would meet them by their boat at five in the morning with the intention of joining their fishing expedition.
In the dark, we pushed the boat out into the water and boarded. We paddled for about twenty minutes and then used our crude poles, lines and hooks, which were baited with strips of fish from the previous day’s catch. To my surprise, I was the first to hook a fish. It was a respectable tilapia, weighing almost a pound.
Four hours later, between the three of us, we had caught about a twenty good-sized fish, which lay in buckets in the bottom of the boat. We had drifted a mile north, up past Eliye Springs toward Central Island, so it was a fair row back. I took my turn on the oars but it was sweltering work, even though I was very fit. The pair watched me sweat for a while before Gordon offered to take over.
As he rowed, Michael positioned one of the buckets between his legs as he sat on the for’d thwart.
“Now you will see what we use our ‘bracelets’ for.”
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Kisu ya Samaki
He slipped his bracelet off his wrist and put his fingers through the centre where his wrist had been. He removed the leather guard from the outer perimeter and poked it into the waistband of his Army shorts for safe-keeping. He selected a fish from the bucket and quickly fileted it with what I now saw was a knife.
He grinned at me. “Kisu ya samaki! Fish knife,” he told me, proudly.
By the time we arrived back at the shore, the two of them had taken turns, rowing and cutting, and all of the fish were nicely fileted and lying in a bucket of clean lake water. The guts had been thrown overboard, and the heads, tails and bones were in another bucket of clean water.
Gordon pointed at the bucket of bones and explained, “Make good soup!”
A small crowd of women and children were waiting, excitedly, as we hauled the boat onto the beach and turned it onto its side, propped on a log, to afford us some shade. I could see that both fisherman had three children each. Their respective wives selected some of the fish and put them into plastic carrier bags before the rest of the women were able to step forward and choose. They handed Michael a few Shillings and thanked him.
It had been a rewarding morning.
Unfortunately, I had duties to perform, so I had to decline their invitation to dine with them.
“Perhaps we’ll go fishing again soon?”
“Yes. You can join us any time, Bwana Mitch.”
After that, I went out with them several times. I was always made to feel most welcome and I really enjoyed my occasional meals with their families. To cap it all, Michael gave me my very own kisu ya samaki at the end of my tour.
January 4, 2018
Book Review: The Lady in the Spitfire by Helena P. Schrader
The Lady in the Spitfire by Helena P. Schrader
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yet another WWII story of love and conflict
This book is one more reason for me to declare my love for historical fiction. The facts behind the female flyers that moved the aircraft to operational airfields were fascinating. However, without the story that Helena P Schrader, I would have struggled to wade my way through the dry descriptions.
The story brings the well researched facts to life. I have to say that the ending, well, the ending before the end of the book, is rather predictable. What would often be entitled “Epilogue,” wraps up all of the loose ends very nicely and made me feel good.
There were a few surprises littered throughout the text. Without spoiling them, I shall reveal one of them. Remember that this story is based in the days when radar was still being developed in secret, so the pilots were flying blind if they flew into cloud, or if the airfields were fog-bound. The surprise, for me, was that the pilots were instructed to bale out and ditch their plane if they were unable to land safely on an airfield. Of course, some of them bravely disobeyed these orders and managed to land against all the odds.
You can read enough about the story in the description of the book and on the cover for me not to need to tell you more. Suffice to say that it is a love story weaved around some serious flying and combat action. There are some annoying characters in the book, but you wouldn’t want to read a book where all of the characters are nice, would you?
December 30, 2017
To the Wire!
One of my 2017 New Year Resolutions was to gain 500 followers for my blog by the end of the year.
There are twenty-four to go and I need….
…. THREE more followers!
So I say to my 497 followers, please let your own friends know that “”Write to Inspire” is a blog worth following!
Thank you my friends.
2018 New Year Resolutions
Once again, I failed on my resolutions for the past year!
Here’s a little reminder.
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Well, I only kind of failed. I wrote the first draft of a new novel during NaNoWriMo 2017. It is called “Rocky Scrapes”. In brief, it is based on the true life story of a retired geologist whom I met on holiday in Kos this year. He certainly had some close shaves during his career, which took him across several countries on the African continent. His honesty and openness clashed with the rife corruption that he often encountered. His life was endangered. It is a great story, but my first draft is absolute garbage and requires a lot of work to take it anywhere near to publication.
No. Drew a blank here. Started several, but got no further.
Success! Bang on target.
In the final day of the year, I have 495 followers. It is still possible. If you have read this far, please re-blog and beg your own followers to follow this blog. You know how much fun they will have!
Failed! My average time is now UP to 26:06. One whole second slower!
Failed! I got to 247 on 30th December. I will run twice on 1st January, at Andover followed by Newbury. So I shall be completing my 250th parkrun at Andover on 6th January 2018. My friend, Matt Jeffery will be running his 250th on the same day. The local newspaper, Andover Advertiser, will be covering it. They have already run a preliminary article.
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After the event, they’ll print another one which will show the two of us completing our goal. I warn you, our idea for fancy dress may make you, in the words of E.B. Brown, “pee your pants.”
Anticipate and watch this space.
In the meantime, here are my resolutions for the coming year.
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Do you think I’ll be successful?
Please share your resolutions, if you’ve made any.
And, in a last minute effort to fulfil my fourth resolution from 2017 and to make a start on number five for 2018, please RE-BLOG or PRESS or otherwise (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram…) spread this post more widely.
Thanks in advance for your help!
December 29, 2017
Single-handed Circumnavigation
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Eyemouth Harbour in the Sixties
When I read this article, it took me right back to my time as a ten year-old when I lived in a fishing village in Berwickshire whose lifeline was the sea. In Eyemouth, everybody was connected to the harbour in some way. We all knew, or were related to, somebody on one of the Seine-netters that made Eyemouth such a busy place.
This is why we admired the achievement of Francis Chichester so much. He sailed around the world single-handed in his yacht, Gypsy Moth IV. It took him 266 days. We watched him cross the line as he sailed into Plymouth. A few days later, he sailed up the Thames to Greenwich and was deservedly knighted by the Her Majesty The Queen.
At the time, which was before man stepped onto the moon, Sir Francis’s escapade was phenomenal. Now, even though the technology of seamanship has evolved beyond all recognition, it puts François Gabart‘s voyage in perspective. What he has done, against the elements, is truly amazing!
Original post: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42383438
A French sailor has set a new world record for the fastest solo round-the-world navigation, beating the previous time by more than six days.
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MACIF – François Gabart
François Gabart finished his circuit of the globe early on Sunday, in a time of 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.
He completed the journey non-stop, confined to his trimaran sailing yacht since 4 November.
Gabart broke the record set by his countryman Thomas Coville last year.
The record was held at one stage by British national Dame Ellen MacArthur.
Gabart’s new record has yet to be verified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council, which will check the ship’s GPS data before confirming the result.
As a reminder, here is what I witnessed 42 years ago.
On 27 August 1966 Chichester sailed his ketch Gipsy Moth IV from Plymouth in the United Kingdom and returned there after 226 days of sailing on 28 May 1967, having circumnavigated the globe, with one stop (in Sydney). By doing so, he became the first person to achieve a true circumnavigation of the world solo from West to East via the great Capes. The voyage was also a race against the clock, as Chichester wanted to beat the typical times achieved by the fastest fully crewed clipper ships during the heyday of commercial sail in the 19th century (the first recorded solo circumnavigation of the globe was achieved by Joshua Slocum in 1898 but it took him three years with numerous stops – Slocum also took up the harder challenge of sailing east to west, against the prevailing wind).
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Gypsy Moth IV – Sir Francis Chichester
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gipsy_Moth_IV
December 20, 2017
Book Review: Stig of the Dump by Clive King
Stig of the Dump by Clive King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Its was great fun when I was a kid, and it is still great fun now that I am a very big kid! The difference is that it takes less time to read now.
December 19, 2017
Book Review – The Real CSI: a Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers
The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers by Kate Bendelow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
On the front cover of this book, there is a quote from Lynda La Plante: ‘Every crime writer should have a copy of this book on their desk.’ I endorse that statement 100%. It is a most excellent, and essential, reference guide for crime writers. It is packed, from cover to cover, with very useful facts and details of forensic procedures. There are many references to well-known British crimes, mainly murders.
For the past sixty-nine years, writers of every genre and form have been inspired by attendance at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in August in Derbyshire. It was while Kate was at Swanwick that some writers suggested that the knowledge that she was imparting would be of great value to crime writers and that she should share this information in a book. Thus inspired, Kate went ahead and produced this wonderful book.
Although it is, without question, a great reference source for crime writers and should be kept close to hand to dip into when the occasion arises, I would recommend that it is worth reading from beginning to end at least once before placing it on one’s desk. The reason that I say this is that there are so many snippets, which could trigger a short story or even a complete novel, which you would miss if you used the book as a pure reference.
Furthermore, although Kate believes that she has created a book for crime writers, just as she intended, The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers goes much wider. I would say that it is a brilliant book for fans of crime fiction novels and of crime movies and TV dramas. There are so many times that you find yourself asking the question, “Could that really happen?” or “Is it really possible that a detective, or forensic scientist, or pathologist could….?” Well, here is where you will find the answers to most of your questions.
Great examples of this come in the chapter on fires and arson. Forgive the intentional pun, but the truth as presented by Kate Bendelow will explode many a myth!
I gave this book five stars because it is worth more than that. Fantastic!
December 12, 2017
Birthday Book Bonanza
To celebrate my birthday on the 16th December, which I am proud to share with Ludwig van Beethoven and Arthur C Clarke, all three of my books will be FREE on Kindle on that day!
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Lance – 1956
As a bonus, here’s a photo of me when I was a baby model for Patons Knitting Patterns in 1956.
Here are the links to the books:
Eleven Miles
Knitting Can Walk!
When Pleasure Blooms
Remember that they will only show up on Amazon at the amazing price of £0.00 on 16th December 2017 from 08:00 PST for 24 hours.
Enjoy!
November 27, 2017
Kenning Poems
I had never heard of Kennings before I joined Mello-Elo and her group for Monday Coffee this morning, so please excuse my amateurish first attempt. It is a riddle. When you’ve guessed what it is, please hop across time and space to her sitting room, enjoy the coffee and see my answer in the comments. Just follow the link.
Tall cylinder
Wax wanes
Light night
Flickering flame
Melting marks
Short chronology
Dwindling string
Final interval
As I said, just follow the link for a coffee and the answer.
That was fun!
#mondaycoffee
November 26, 2017
Book Review: In The Dark by Mark Billingham
In The Dark by Mark Billingham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Violent criminals, big and small; some of them teenagers believing that they are much bigger than they actually are. London police, some straight and some crooked. This book contains non-stop action from the beginning, and the reader is continually trying to separate the good guys from the bad.
It is easy to imagine that these are the sorts of events that are happening across London today. It certainly seems so from the news bulletins that I listen to, anyway.
The reality will grip your attention, but you’ll need to accept the bad language as part of that reality.
