When I was growing up in Sibu, our houses didn't have fence, when I was living in NTU in Singapore, our houses didn't have fence, in New Zealand, our houses are partially fenced.
January 8, 2010 'Fences' by Sandra Leigh
"All over my town there are fences - tall ones and short ones, old and new, elegant and shabby. They all have something to say - like "Keep out," "Be careful!" (like this one) or "Stay right where you are," "I'm utterly exhausted" or "Look at me. Aren't I splendid?" Some have gates; others simply define a space or support a heavy vine. What kinds of fences are there in your town? Do they really make good neighbours? Or do they just isolate us? " Sandra Leigh
Do you remember incidences or chapters in books from years and years ago?
I don't know about you, but I do.
Tom Sawyer's whitewashing the fence by Mark Twain is something I always remember how Tom tricked his friends Huckleberry Finn and others (boys and girls) to paint his work for him by pretending it was a lot of fun. They had to "pay" him for this privilege. May be it is the constant reminder by all the fences around me.
Perhaps it is the phrase: Build bridges, not fence that is deep inside the recess of my mind that has this impact.
I chanced upon this gentleman painting his fence that just jotted my memory. I studied this chapter when I was 12 and had just started my Secondary School in Methodist School in Sibu. I can't remember if it was chapter one. I never forgot. I can picture the teacher's face though I have forgotten his name.
Today a blogging and facebook friend posted this:
Mark Twain once wrote, "Training is everything. A peach was once a bitter almond; a cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education."
"a cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education." he obviously is not a gardener. But he must have impacted me, the first English lesson at junior high school I had was the chapter on Tom Sawyer painting his aunt's fence.
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