LOL: Life of Leisure

About a quarter of a mile away from my house is the Cercle Hippique de Kinshasa. Last weekend, I had the fun of attending my first-ever horse jumping competition there. The contestants were from five different countries: Belgium, Zimbabwe, Congo, South Africa and Kenya. I took a few photos and am curious to see if I shrink one down small enough if I can get it to load from here. If not, let me tell you that the photo I want to display is of the winner of the first round, a small white horse named Cookie, almost a pony, that seemed to jump straight up like a frog. Its rider was a petite gal who had total control.

I'm really getting into the txt messaging (note the title of this blog), primarily because it doesn't require any cost to the sender. We often need to communicate just quick messages. Cell time is so expensive that conversations are kept to a minimum. It is not unusual to observe conversations that just end with no goodbyes--just stop. I have been the recipient of "the beep" too, in which the sender sends the call signal and then immediately hangs up so they don't get charged, but he/she is expecting me to call them back and consequently pay for the call. I quickly learned to not respond to "the beep." If somebody wants to talk, he/she may call and pay the price.

Most of you who read this blog know that I can be a little obsessive about watching Mystery! on PBS. If you try to call me during a Mystery! show, I will usually not answer because who can miss any of the clues in Miss Marpel mysteries or any of the other fabulous detective stories? I'm totally hooked and have to admit that I still have withdrawal symptoms when Sunday night comes around. However, I am happy to report that the previous renter of this house must have been a mystery afincianado, too, and has a well-stocked library of not only Agatha Christie, but the wonderful Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Polifax series is my personal favorite) as well as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers and Ellis Peters. If that weren't enough to read, there's even Luci Shaw's poetry. Give me a good book, a cup of African Red Bush tea (compliments of daughter Grace!) add some electrical power for lights and I am good for a long night.