Page 23 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 33
P. 23
Community
We drove out to get some supplies in town. Tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone: What
We got back after about one hour or so. But lo would have happened if I had harvested the
and behold, even before getting to the garden matured okra when I had the hunch to do so?
I could see that all the okra had disappeared. I I would have saved the seeds and multiplied
could not believe my eyes at first. them in another planting season.
I went to the garden and my fears were But that did not happen; not because there was
confirmed. The wild boys had eaten every no seed to harvest, but because I did not listen
single okra that I was keeping for harvest. I to harvest them within the time frame that
was very annoyed with the animals but at the they were available for me to harvest them.
same time, I was pissed with myself for not But what does that mean?
listening to the prompting to harvest the okra
before leaving for supply runs. The opportunity of a lifetime must be used
within the lifetime of the opportunity.
It was a good lesson for me and even though I
did not get to harvest and store the okra seeds Applying this particular lesson goes beyond
as I had wished, I did learn a few things from gardening and invading monkeys or baboons.
that experience. It applies to every area of our lives and we
need to pay attention to it.
Life Lessons
We cannot put off until tomorrow what needs
Nature always wins: I remember telling to be done today. Why? Tomorrow is not
one of our friends who works in the forest guaranteed for anyone and none of us know
conservancy about what happened. He just what will happen in the next hour. Nobody
laughed it off and said “This forest is the does.
home of the animals, we are the ones that are
visitors here,” or something like that. Clearly, So, we cannot live life thinking that we are
his words did not help, but they were the truth the best thing that happened to the world since
all the same. mango juice. No, we are not. We are part of
a living, breathing organism called Earth.
No matter what humans do, and no matter how And it’s incumbent on us to live right even
smart we think we are, nature will always do as we display the beauty of our lives for all
what nature does and nature will always win. humanity to see.
For example, what if the issue of Climate
Change is just nature giving the middle finger Life is a beautiful piece of art: Imagine living
to humans for the wayward ways we have in that dark, quiet, and sometimes cold forest
dealt with nature? with the sound of animals and insects coming
from all directions. By the way, there are no
Something to think about. other houses within the forest. Also, imagine
ISSUE 33 | JAUNUARY 2025 23
