Unlike in some countries where political rivalry ends in the loss of lives and election results take ages to be released, Americans got to know what the future holds for them quickly as a closely fought contest ended in a nail biting finish with the current President of the United States of America retaining his post for four more years.

Running with the background of a weak economy and high unemployment in America, President Obama made successes by providing health care insurance to ordinary citizens in America, ending war in Iraq and going after the world’s most dangerous terrorist Osama Bin Laden. As people were casting their votes Obama sent a message on Tweeter to his supporters, “We’re all in this together. That’s how we campaigned, and that’s who we are. Thank you. – Barack Obama.” The rich favoured Mitt Romney but women voters propelled Obama back into the White House. Obama stole women’s hearts in America through advocating for reproductive rights, access to health care and fair pay. The next four years in office will be a challenging task for Obama – he will have to work hard to fulfill the promises, and build on the gains, made in the last four years.

Graham took himself off to the Vumba for 3 days of competitive golf this past weekend and the kids and I were left to fend for ourselves. In our newfound freedom we decided to go camping on Friday night – in the front garden … we are so brave. As it turns out, our courage faded with the sun, and come bedtime we were inventing reasons to sleep indoors. Tyla won out with the most convincing argument about not being able to find the loo or the torch or the necessary daring in the middle of the night. So we shuffled sheepishly back into the house and all piled into my bed for a night of giggles and fighting for the covers.

On Saturday we ventured out to watch the fireworks display, feeling guilty about leaving the dogs home alone. We packed our picnic basket, the essential bottle of wine for me, some strawberries and cheese, and pizza for the kids. The children ran around like mad things for hours, then ate, then got a bit bored waiting for the fireworks to start. I felt no pain having anaesthetized myself sufficiently with Nederburg Baronne, the full effects of which only made themselves known, thankfully, when I got within spitting distance of my bed.

Sunday found us enjoying lunch at Aunt Jen’s with yours truly vigorously (an exaggeration) participating in animated discussion around the psychology of smell and how people will happily smell your wrist, but will balk when you hold out 2 fingers for them to sniff at – which ended in a fit of giggles. After food, and the vain exhortation to my children to eat (“I’m not going to cook anything for dinner you know” – ever hopeful) I propped my frail head against the sun lounger amongst the old folk and snoozed behind dark glasses, surreptitiously you understand.

I’m sure no-one noticed.

It’s that time of  year again, when the swifts that nest above the car park at our office return and start to have babies, and the babies, invariably, start to fall out of the nest and into the car park. Last year, I kept finding dead, or half dead, baby birds – pink hatchlings, vulnerable and naked without even fluffy baby feathers – which I would take home to bury.

Today, I found this year’s first capsized baby bird. This is the largest I’ve found fallen out of its nest – maybe three four weeks old, with flight feathers on its wings, but its neck is still scrawny and pink, and it’s no where near flight ready. Happily, it is still alive, and seemingly healthy enough, but it’s a long way back up to its home and we don’t know how to shove it back in there. So we’re trying to keep it alive – not an easy prospect.

A crash course in swift rearing however has taught us that our bird is insectivorous. And a few helpful online videos make it clear that hoping birdy will open wide for the worm is wishful thinking. So in lieu of our usual lunch time run, today Bev and I set off on a bug hunting expedition. Ideally, we’d like to find flying bugs – the kind we figure Momma and Poppa Swift would bring home for birdy’s staple diet. But catching flying things requires a coordination I have never possessed. So I kept my eyes on the ground looking for ants and spiders, whilst Bev more optimistically was on the look out crickets and butterflies. It certainly made for a different kind of run. From a bug’s eye view our city is enormous – Just one small patch of grass holds endless crawling creature potential. And shaking up the Tuesday routine to help out a creature in distress gave a valuable reminder of the importance of slowing down, of not being too busy to help, or to care. It’s like the root of activism, or social justice, or trying to make the world a better place. It’s an uphill battle, but you do it anyway. I know birdy probably won’t make it through the night. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try.

Research has shown that the most common password used is the word ‘password’ itself and the numbers 123456. The list also has iloveyou, football, sunshine and jesus. According to the list the top ten passwords are as follows:

1. password
2, 123456
3. 12345678
4. abc123
5. qwerty
6. monkey
7. letmein
8. dragon
9. 111111
10. baseball

When I asked a colleague why Tsvangirai is in the UK, she said, gone shopping? Such faith we have in our politicians.

Hurricane Sandy hit the East coast of the United States today.
Millions of people witnessed
the combined power of surging wind-blown seas,
spring tides and a cold weather front
sweeping into their streets and their homes
suspending the routine of lives lived in familiar patterns

shops emptied of supplies
transport systems closed, schools closed, businesses closed
even the stock exchange is  closed
as millions take shelter
alongside bottles of water and food supplies that protect them from
waiting for the violence of the storm to subside

last week a storm hit the west coast of France, Spain and Portugal
in a fury of wind and water that drowned their houses and cars
57 people were killed

an earthquake shook the seas off the Californian coast
raising fears of a tsunami

within a short week
we are confronted with the fragility of the systems that hold us
against the force of this elemental power

the planet has shaken her mantle before,
but things are different now

we have settled in our increasing millions
along the shores of her oceans
the faults of her mantle
at the feet of her growing mountains

and every time she shivers
the structures and systems that have taken centuries build
are wiped out in a few hours

there is something that happens in these moments of chaos
when we are called so starkly into dealing with the present
when we leave our homes with our supplies
shifted out of the normality of our lives
and even the rescue services can’t hold back the damage

It is as if some other part of us wakes up
and we become part of a cooperative, coordinated action
that calls us back to community beings
to lay sand bags along shop fronts
take care of the old lady next door
the kid down the street

will we find a vision that holds us in this chaos
that enables us to stand here in the fire
the floods and the flow?

will we start learning something beyond saving ourselves
and the security of our singular lives?

do we need chaos to prompt us into our wider selves?

are realizations of great significance only born of pain?

in Syria the government forces bombed their capital
killing their own children
and we watch the world on our screens
horrified but detached
until ‘we are the ones’

this week carries great learning . . .