This Chinese New Year has not been a quiet four-day break but neither has it been exhaustive. The weather has been good too though the early signs of the hot season is already discernible with some of the wayside trees flowering much too early. Those returning to the 'big smoke' may have to endure the crawl as thousands of cars will flow back either southwards or northwards depending where you are departing from.
Perhaps it also gave a momentary respite to look at some metaphors which we had to learn by heart and commit to memory alongside their meanings. Learning the language then meant getting into the nitty-gritty of knowing proverbs, metaphors, idioms and quotations of well-known personalities playwrights and authors especially. It gives a foundation which sadly is disregarded now making language learning a transient and expediant approach.
A little bird told me that I would be playing with a new toy this weekend. That I did when I got hold of a Nikon Zoom-Nokkor 70 - 300mm f/4 - f/5.6G lens that as the brochure says "will provide you with years of exciting picture-taking opportunities" So today in the early morning, before breakfast and after fixing it on its Nikon base I scouted around the home for the early birds. Never knowing who would catch the worms first. Coincidently, the area around the house being at the frienge of the Anak Bukit River and interspersed with clumps of bamboo and varied trees still provide a haven for birds and flying creatures. In one's own backyard, one would surely be able to look in every nook and cranny and put one's best foot forward and sure enough I had several exciting snap-shots.
As if implying 'a bird in hand is worth two in the bush' and recognizing oneself as a 'rare bird' I present two photos of the flying kind. This new toy is truly a goodly extension and a 'well-oiled piece of machinery'.
Speaking metaphorically, this is one way of giving one's blessing to something or someone. Grateful indeed for all that Allah has bestowed upon us.
Notice the lone bird cooing away as it sits comfortably and in safety amongst the dried branches that hung over the river behind the home.
Here a lone Bird is caught twitching on the soft branches but we are always caught by the saying that 'birds of a feather flock together'.
4 comments:
New lenses ... oooohh.
Well-oiled piece of machinery .... you or the camera, hehe :P
I doubt if the children nowadays are taught to write in idioms like this anymore. What a shame because wordplay definitely makes a piece of writing more interesting
Nina,
A welcomed visit and glorified comment. How I wish I am in the classroom again teaching how to write in the style we practised before.I got satisfaction expressing thru the blogs helping to sharpen the thoughts plus ideas. Hope you will continue to write cause you have directions and style too. All in the family ...
Wah...Pak Non,
Nice expensive toy you got there. Being a shutterbug myself I'd love to lay my hands on one of those cool Nikkor super zoom lenses. For now, I'm stuck with a Nikon D7(non-digital & lense 30 - 70mm) and a compact digital camera (courtesy of my brother).
Its fun having a new gadget to play with - just to remind you, that you'd need to go to http://www.sxc.hu/ to start your photo catalogue - sign-up its a good place to showcase your work, and also to http://www.lulu.com/ when you've finally completed your book. And, yes, do send me a copy when done so I may review it for AainaA Insight! Magazine. Hugs to all at home.
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