I was on the bicycle going to Sentosa for a meeting. Which is close, I am not really fit. I turn on to Kerry Road, go 40 meters, suddenly the front tyre goes flat. Suddenly! A hiss, and as fast as you can say ffffft, it is deflated.

Dilemma. Do I push the bicycle on to the meeting, and maybe make it on time, and then push all the way home? Or do I push home, get in something faster, zoom back to the meeting, be a little late (but I have a good excuse), and then the bicycle is already home to be fixed later? Yeah, take the easy way. Push home.

As I walk up the cycle path on West, a guy on a bicycle calls to me. “I can fix it.” But I have no money. So I tell him, “No thanks, I have no money.” “No problem,” he says, “will do it anyways.”

I have seen him before; he fixes punctures on the side of the road. He has all his ‘fixit’ kit on the back of his bike. Pump and all. And I have seen this routine before. We all have. Promises to do thing for free, to get the job, but when the job is done, out come the whine. “Just need money to get home/buy food/children’s education/sustain peace process in the middle east”. The story. And since they have already done something, you are obligated. If you do not remunerate, you are a…

And I really have no money. Nothing in the wallet, not even $1. But I am not pushing fast, and I stop, and I show him no money, and make protest I cannot pay, and plead my case before it all goes wrong.

“No problem,” he says, and kit is off the back of his bike and out, my bike is down and tube out of tyre, and work progressing before I can stop it. He is a ‘professional’. Pumps tyre and finds hole. Roughs the area with a hacksaw blade. Cuts patch from old tube with scissors. Bit of glue from tube of contact adhesive. All the kit he has. All the tools he has. It IS impressive. Lets it dry a bit. Sticks the patch on, tube back in, tyre pumped (good pressure), and it holds! Wheel back on bike. I am able to go.

But I have to protest again, “I have no money.” “Not a problem, maybe sometime you do me a favour.” And he is about to be off, with no whine, no change of mind to “just need…”. He has done a favour, and that is his reward. I am dumbstruck. I at least find out his name. “Michael.” Well, that is a good name! And he lives near me. And his wife worked for the Chinese, and he used to be a driver, but quit to do his own business, and he works there (points) most days, and he is a real live person with a soul. (And a good name!)

Just when you have all the answers – people are scum. Never turn your back on anyone. You are going to be disappointed. It isn’t going to work. They will break it. They may say that, but mean something else. Talk is cheap. And all the rest.

Then, along comes Michael, and destroys everything. All you ‘knew’. All the foundation of life. The basis for understanding. Your method of getting by. How the world works. Your Weltanschauung (your worldview). All destroyed.

Weeks later, the tyre still holds air. Thanks Michael.

Desmond Tutu has written a powerful op-ed in response to Uganda’s homophobia:

To those who claim that homosexuality is not part of our African culture, you are conveniently ignoring the fact that LGBTI Africans have lived peacefully and productively beside us throughout history.

More here

Here’s a very cool campaign …

Last week, the internet was shocked and pleased to learn that Victoria’s Secret had launched a new line of consent-themed underwear. Instead of a thong reading “SURE THING,” these panties said things like “NO MEANS NO” and “ASK FIRST.” Even more exciting, they were modeled by a beaming curvy woman of color. “I’m the first person to go on a tirade about how much I hate VS, but this is awesome,” wrote one blogger — a sentiment that echoed throughout the Tumblr/Facebook/Twitter-sphere. Pretty shortly, though, the campaign was revealed as a sophisticated hoax perpetrated by a group of radical Baltimore feminists.

More here

On the 6th of November a baby Little Swift came into our lives. He had fallen out of a high nest in a garage at work. There was no question we would do our best to look after him until he was ready to fly.

So after,

1960 grasshoppers and assorted insects (hand hunted and donated)
1328 forced beak openings
364 poos (one quarter caught, the rest landed on clothes, carpets and beds)
40 car trips back and forth to the office (day care)
37 hot water bottles
34 bug containers
7 trips to the hardware store, pet shop and fishing store
5 cricket matches, 4 food shows and 2 disaster films
Too many to count Internet searches about anything related to “helping baby swifts”
One book (Wild by Cheryl Strayed)
And 8423 kisses (this is an approximate figure, could well be more)

Taylor Birdy was ready to be released.

And that’s what we did on the morning of 4th December at about 630am at Country Club where we were sort of guaranteed a soft landing if things didn’t go well.

We took Taylor Birdy along in a box. We had a small stepladder and Bren was on filming duty.

He sat on my hand for what seemed like a long time surveying the big wide world. He bounced his bum up and down, looked around, fluffed his feathers, did a poo, and finally he took off. He put on a display for us, practising his flying, and then he disappeared.

He flew magnificently.

After a month of intense caring and learning and commitment we were pretty much on our knees from fatigue, but entirely awestruck by the experience.

During our time with Taylor Birdy we put together a play list of his favourite songs. In particular he seemed easier to feed while Here Comes The Sun was playing, or maybe the song calmed the carer, who knows! You can check out the Taylor Birdy play list here.

We also promised ourselves that we’d put together a Taylor Birdy Manifesto of lessons we learned during our time with him, as well as stuff we already knew, but needed reminding … we all get lazy. Read the Taylor Birdy Manifesto here.

Bren started practising the Manifesto pretty swiftly (I didn’t mean to do that) and penned a poem for us.

An excerpt:

Nervous, shaking fingers
Try feeding me
A foreign diet of clumsy
Inexperience

The rest is here.

And finally, we put together a visual record of him from a few early snaps, the day before his release, as well as the launch …Bye Bye Birdy. You can watch a 5-minute film here.

There are many people to thank, both near, and far.

In Harare, several people gave us advice, with one of the most compelling pieces going something like this:

Please only release to the heavens once both of these factors are aligned:
1) Wings to fly
2) Rains have come with attendant bugs. Do not let HIM fly off into a clear, blue desert

But most importantly we made contact with some amazing and very patient Swift Carers in the UK who answered our many questions with patience and kindness, which strengthened our confidence and commitment.

In many ways, and how could it be any different, we broke a lot of rules and Taylor Birdy spent a very unconventional month with us. However we did stop short at dipping his hoppers in Margaritas!

The title of Bren’s poem comes from one of Amanda’s dedicated, twice daily insect gathering sorties, where she would pounce on anything that moved. She went out with a small net, a container for what we called “specialies” (flies/moths) and another one for bulk (grasshoppers). Early one morning a curious security guard asked her what she was doing. After she explained, he looked at her and told her: “You have long hearts. God bless you.”

• Be willing to interrupt your life: the stuff that wings in at an angle is often expanding, don’t shut it out
• Laugh: it helps you keep perspective, and lightens the load
• Be grateful for small things: don’t look gifts of small hoppers in the mouth
• Reach out and ask for advice and help: we’re made more by others
• Not always, but very often, things will be all right in the morning: have faith
• Sometimes the decision won’t be in your hands: the morning of Birdy’s release he became very agitated, he was ready, we accepted
• Make friends with mystery: clear proof sometimes can’t be found, and that’s ok
• When you think you can’t just try to anyway: you’d be amazed what you can accomplish when you’re motivated strongly enough
• Don’t expect to get it right the first time: be flexible enough to learn from your mistakes, and brave enough to try again
• Share the story: you never know what you’ll inspire in others
• Appreciate teamwork: respect each others’ strengths and roles, and you can do much more together than you could separately
• Never underestimate the power of gentle: coupled with focus and determination, it can lift you to the skies