The Blanket Wrap

I’m starting to hear voices from the trees again. When I heard it last year I was astonished, now I know it means something wonderful.  It’s peach season!

Our area of Lesotho is thick with peach trees.  You will find them planted around homes, schools, fields and high up on the hillside grazing areas, aggressive growers from discarded peach pits eaten or planted by herders in years past.  Even our family pig enjoys life in the shade of a peach tree and the addition of peaches to its usual diet.

There are two major varieties of local peaches, Tae-pete are small yellow-white peaches which ripen in December & January and Motloha-Tholoana, larger sweeter peaches that ripen to reddish-yellow in February.   Now that the February fruits are in full flush the trees seem to be talking almost everywhere, sending out happy greetings, “Lumela Mpho, u phela joang!” (Hi Mpho how are u?) , “…re teng le kae” (Hi, we’re fine how are you?) or most intriguingly speaking with each other, so quickly I can’t translate. Read more

Some time ago I was leaving my house when I heard singing and chanting and saw a row of people coming down the path of a neighbouring hillside. I was told they were a “Girls Initiation School” a Litsoejane (deet sway jah nay). I kept a respectful distance and watched as they joined up and started a series of dances and songs.  I had to leave for an important meeting at one of the   primary schools so I reluctantly started walking down the hill when I heard the Litsoejane group coming down behind me. Read more