Well, some days are just more fun than others. Today was a little more bother than many, but I did have the greatest knitting Kidz today at Foster Center. One girl finished her first wristband and was mighty proud. Another boy finished the knitting of his third wristband, he just needs to bind off and sew next week. He got variegated rainbow/crayon colored yarn and it made a rainbow wristband. He was very pleased!

I also had a good dinner in the midst of all the bother today. I went to Altu’s just as they were closing but they did have all the pieces for a veggie combo still ready to take out. Yum! I adore Altu and her food. It’s comfort food on a still-too-cold winter day. Actually, it was about freezing today, warm for winter, but I just don’t like any winter at all! Grumpy me, I know!

This weblog, for me, is a positive and passionate activity I do. I try to keep it upbeat and pleasant for the most part. I had a day that was not upbeat enough (not horrible but I have had many better) so that means I’m going to work even harder to give you beautiful pictures. After all, a picture paints a thousand words, and therefore a beautiful photo or two might just turn around a less than optimal day, right?

Here are some colorful shots I took in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They all were taken out of the window of a moving vehicle, and thus some of them are fuzzy. I think they are colorful enough to show them to you, fuzzy or not!

The first photo is a mother and two children. Mom is wearing a typical Ethiopian traditional cotton wrap, children are wearing western-style backpacks, just as the kids do in my own town. In that photo on the left is a blue and white minivan, which is a group taxi (all taxis in Addis are that color). Next is a street scene. The blue boxes on the edge of the sidewalk, are little closet-sized stores, some not currently open for business. Third is a shot of some boys after school, notice that the two of them at the far left are holding hands. Friends of the same sex often hold hands in Africa. It is common, it is normal, and nobody thinks anything of it. Nobody makes any assumptions about personal or love preferences from it.

Next is a shot where you can see someone getting a shoeshine on the sidewalk on the left, and there is a young man going to market (probably, and/or selling streetside) with a wheelbarrow overflowing with grapefruit. Last is a woman waiting to be let into a walled area (probably a private residence) holding two jugs of water. On the driveway between my camera and the woman is a bundle of firewood, probably eucalyptus. She would perhaps have carried that bundle on her back to get it this far. We saw lots of folks coming down a mountain with bundles such as this, either for personal use or for sale at market.