A Red Letter Day!!!!

October 15, 2014

This was indeed a RED LETTER DAY!!!  Even though I don't have a picture of it, our office was graced with a new hp computer.  Two students serving as interns brought it ~~ all new ~~ keyboard, monitor, and mouse!!!!  They set it all up, transferred our files from the non-working one, and got us back in business.  We are so grateful, since we had been without a working desktop computer since last May!  (I know that Hewlett Packard is one of the companies being boycotted for their role in the Occupation of Palestine, so I am distressed that so many of the computers sold in Mutare are hp.)
 
This was also the day that we welcomed Amy and Wayne Van Devender and Shelly Strickland from the U.S.  What a pleasure to have Wayne and Amy with us for a week!  I learned so much from them, as well as from Dr. Ab Abercrombe and Dr. Chris Hope, two of my housemates at the Guest House at AU.

Dr. Wayne is a herpetologist ~~ with many photo credits for his work with such things as frogs, salamanders, spiders,  etc., etc.  Dr. Wayne and his wife, Amy, would go out every evening, along with Dr. Ab and Dr. Chris, with their headlamps, cameras, and equipment, and would always bring back fascinating creatures of God's creation that I had usually never heard of!!  These two gentlemen worked together to publish a book about the geology and animals on AU's campus.  (AU also has people on its property mining for gold in a serious way!)

And then are Dr. Ab and Dr. Chris ~~ they are always called upon to catch snakes when they are found on campus, frequently near the chicken houses!!

Say "hi!" to a newborn Bush Baby!!!  So tiny, but with all the features ~~ eyes, ears, nose, mouth, little hands and feet with nails, etc.!!!  Ab and Chris found him on one of their nightly walks around campus.  Since bush babies usually ride on the back of their mother, they thought it was likely that it had fallen off into the grass.  So, it became a housemate overnight!!

Dr. Ab was afraid it might not survive the night, so he tried to feed the little baby some powdered milk.  He drank it from a little syringe, and slept the night through.  Next morning they took him back and placed him where they found him.  And by that same evening it appeared that his mother had found and reclaimed him!

This is only one of numerous snakes that have shared our Guest House for 1-3 nights!!  Of course, they remained in the long, breathable bag they are placed in when caught ~~ usually pythons and cobras!!  Some have spit at us, while others, like this one, were very mild mannered and he gave us a chance to see his full length on our living room floor!

I hope you can make this out ~~ Dr. Ab is inserting a "tracker" down the throat of this snake with a pair of forceps. The plan was for his students to try and locate it a few days later.  Unfortunately, the snake regurgitated it sometime after they released it.  Sometimes Dr. Ab with surgically implant a "tracker" and have students use their GPS to locate it later.





I don't have pictures, but Amy's passion was finding numerous kinds of snails.  The only ones I'm familiar with are the ones who tend to eat some of my flowers in the summer!  They brought back many from their evening treks ~~ most barely the size of a pin head!  WOW!  I never would have guessed that someone would spend their whole working life looking for, studying and photographing these amazing creatures who share our planet.  I've realized how much I have yet to learn!!

Meet Shelly Strickland, from SC, a recent Wofford College grad., who came for a month to help the Intensive English students practice their pronunciation!  What a delightful person!!  This is the guinea fowl banner we gave her the night before she flew home.

Shelly stayed at another Guest House on campus where Albert and Lucienne were her hosts.  The encyclopedia in front of Albert was used to look up information about mermaids.  Lucienne still believes that they really exist!!!  They are from D.R.C. ~~ Albert is doing an MA in the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, and Lucienne is getting an MA in Pastoral Counseling.  They have five children, the youngest of which is 16 and staying with grandparents, and one grandchild.  A delightful clergy couple who will truly make a difference when they return to D.R.C.

This is much longer than I had planned, but I hope you enjoyed these happenings at AU through my eyes.

Be blessed and grace-filled!!