kar0ling

I was watching The Last King of Scotland the other day and so many things were familiar from my experience in Cameroon . Even though the movie is set in East Africa , the place has far more similarities to West Africa than to North America .   But there was one moment that did not ring true, and it took me a while to realize what was wrong. When Idi Amin addresses the crowd after his seizing power, he speaks eloquently and passionately into a crystal clear sound system.   Wait—crystal clear sound system?   Did any outdoor sound system back in the 70s sound that good, much less ones used in rural East Africa ? In Cameroon in the late 2000s, I was not in the presence of any sound systems that did not squawk, squeal, stammer, and static the entire time they were being used.   So close, but not quite.

Not quite slinky, but I love to say that line. The light has returned, aided in part by Daylight Savings Time, and I bask in the thought of increasingly long evenings. Though the wind is still frigid, there's a wonderful earthiness in the air, a damp but fresh and living scent on the breeze that teases with a promise of spring, even while the gale bites your cheeks and threatens to draw the very air from your lungs. The streets and sidewalks are one massive murky puddle, but AHHHHH! it's not -30 anymore; we've shed toques and mittens and heavy coats, so what's some wet feet compared with a fatal fall on an icy sidewalk. In many respects, a Manitoba spring is a miserable time of year, but after the harsh winter, we've learned to dredge every speck of appreciation from the warmer temperatures, and know well enough to savour every moment of outdoor time before mosquito season starts.

Cribbed from someone else's wisdom in a forum discussion: "we obey because we are saved, not saved because we obey." I like that. A very good reminder for those of us who have a tendency to slide toward legalism. Further to that, I suppose, is, we obey because we love and are loved, not out of fear or guilt. Makes me thing of this: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." John 10:8