09/01/22: banana trees are fascinating!

One of the many great joys of spending time in two very different countries in different continents is the sense of awe and wonder at things which would seem entirely normal if one only ever lived in one place. Occasionally this happens going back to the UK, I well remember returning from Dar es Salaam having been away for over a year being totally perplexed by zebra crossings and drivers actually stopping for me. I mean, what’s going on here?

So for me, having banana trees growing 5 metres from my house is just amazing. Fantastic! And watching them them over the course of the year has been really interesting. On the one hand they look very fragile, like over grown pieces of grass. Yet their tenacity for life is wonderful, the picture above seems to me to convey a sense of new life arising out of old. I feel a sermon illustration coming on, but am very aware that good practice is to work out the point one is making first and then find an illustration. However….

This is what immature bananas look like:

And here we have a new leave unfurling:

Quite who the bananas belong to when they are ready for harvesting I don’t know, I come back from school and they seem to have disappeared. Similarly, who has the passion fruit growing right outside my house?

With lovely flowers attracting bees:

While on the theme of plant life let me show you two recent acquisitions:

Any advice on looking after them gratefully received, previous experience not good I’m afraid. And also, I tried to capture the early morning light from just outside my house, tell me how well I’ve done!

Thank you for reading, much appreciated, if there’s anything you think would be interested to know about, please let me know! Meanwhile, tomorrow (Monday 10th January 2022) is an important day here in Uganda as schools return, in some cases for the first time in nearly two years. At Acacia School we’re expecting all year groups back, I would say it’s been noticeable walking around over the last few days that there has been painting and decorating going on in local schools which has been really nice to see. Please pray for us,t this is a much needed step, we ask our Almighty God that there be no going back to lockdowns. At all times and in all places, to God be the glory!