Philosophy Farm 101

Hi, Milton Louw here on Farm Okomitundu, 170 km from Windhoek (www.okomitundu.com). It is a Guest Farm with all the amenities, 2 heated swimming pools (;-), nature drives, hiking trails and much, much more.

In fact, the other morning while jogging I suddenly rounded the farm dam and saw a group of about 20 wildebeest. I stood still while they ran about 20 metres and looked back at me. They reminded me of sales assistants in a clothing store on a Saturday morning watching my daughters and I enter. They instinctively know my daughters and I are window shopping, not yet ready to buy. In the same way the wildebeest knew I was here to look not to catch and eat.

I was still marvelling at this encounter when I looked up to see an Oryx directly ahead in my path. He spent a few seconds looking at me before disappearing behind a bush. When I came to the place the Oryx was, there was small clearing and he had only reversed some 20 metres into the bush. It looked very much as if we had come to a crossing at the same time and he was giving me the "right of way".

As I jogged further, a peace came over me knowing that while the animal andtheir families were being looked after, mine would be too.
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So, here I am taking a break from the rat race and philosophising? In fact, I hope to prepare some articles on various relevant issues (and will keep them posted on a regular basis) to be incorporated into a book I am writing.

Though for the week:
"The cure, therefore, of political ills is knowledge of the good life, and the statesman is he who has such knowledge, for that alone can give men what they are always seeking." - Introduction to Aristotle's Treatise on Government translation by William Ellis (1912)

Remember, my email address is miltonlouw@gmail.com.

Enjoy your weekend, I am off for a beer in the swimming pool...
Milton

Starting 2009 with a plan

The year 2008 ended on a fairly low note as I realised I needed (through necessity) to find a new employment or direction for my life. A friend of mine with a guest farm in the remote farming district of Otjimbingwe invited me to visit him and his family for a few days starting on the 2nd of January.

WOW! Getting away from it all has never been so exhilarating. We get up in the morning and go jogging up the Kudu Trail and have a magnificent view for miles around. Jog back down and then it is time for breakfast. The best part is we get to chat along the way and discuss various business ideas. In fact, some of them are so good we are still working at them ten years later ;-).

This year he suggested I write a book. Not any book - mind you, but a book on my thoughts for the economic development of Namibia. Scary to say the least.

Well, I have never been one to sit too long on an idea so started writing to see if I could. Within two days we have thrashed out the framework for the book and now I have to make a decision on whether I actually have the guts to do it?