• ashirk@gmail.com
  • Kijabe, Kenya
Kenya
In Tea Country

In Tea Country

The past weeks have been a whirlwind, to Ohio for our dear friend Susan’s wedding, and back to Kenya. This weekend we managed to get away to the edge of the Aberdare Range for a little bit of recovery.

Our friend told us that in Kikuyu legend, it must rain whenever there is a full moon to wash it clean. The moon got quite a shower and so did the road, but thankfully we were able to push/drive the cars out of the valley to tarmac road!

Years ago (15 or so?), I had a photography book called Understanding Exposure, and I still vividly remember the macro picture of an upside down tree framed in a raindrop. I could see the tea fields upside down in the drops, I think the first time I’ve ever seen this phenomenon through my own lens. Quick poem about the thought:

Sometimes the world is upside down,
wet, weighted, bowed
refracted, reflected
like diamonds between bare toes.
The best things are gone in an instant
but never forgotten. . .

Madeline says her favorite moment from the weekend was slipping and sliding down the steep slopes between rows of tea. Arianna was totally engulfed at one point!

Also this weekend, Eliud Kipchoge, legendary Kenyan runner, became the first human to run a sub-two-hour marathon! We stood outdoors, holding a cell-phone up in the air, to stream the final kilometers of the race.

1:59:40 – absolutely amazing.

I shared more thoughts on the run with Friends of Kijabe here if you would to read.