Of Coffee With WinterABC2025: Wrapped

Coffee With WinterABC 2025 Wrapped

https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/aenAtngBCUb

If you were having coffee with me, I would welcome you to my tangle of words as as I wrap up my 2025 edition of WinterABC. A digital storytelling festival curated via Afrobloggers.

I have been blogging on WordPress since 2012 which makes this my 13th year blogging and my 7th time participating in the Afrobloggers WinterABC. Yes, I have been there from the start, otherwise how could I possibly invite anyone else to be part of journey, I would not dare… gotta walk the talk.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that a monthly blogging challenge is intense and I tip my hat to anyone, who so much as attempts, to go through this trial by fire. I keep reminding my fellow storytellers, that its called A Challenge and not an easy peasy lemon squeasy… if it were easy, everyone would be here at the finish line… but also its not a race or a competition, it’s a celebration of our voices and shared experiences, in a world where we are told how to tell our stories.

What I have learnt over the years, about WinterABC, is that you have to plan ahead, have a rough idea on the posts you are going to write about, while some more organised content creators create their posts ahead of time, the least one can do is have a guide on what they will write about, which is why WinterABC prompts are released before June begins…

My WinterABC25 drafts

My traffic from African countries increases in June and its because of the WinterABC challenge and its participants. For a month the African blogging space comes alive as familiar and new connections come together and be part of a community they never knew they needed until they found themselves a part of.

June Analytics Becoming The Muse

I am always happy to see familiar names who have walked this journey with us before and happiest to see the new adventurers, who dare, to try out WinterABC so shout out to the following:

•Write Grace Thrive: Body, Mind & Soul
•Mowabites Worldwide
•The 5am Soliloquy
•Samantha’s Blog
•Candid Narrative Media
•Her Musings: Kindled Thoughts of an Afro-Millenial Soul

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you not to let my seeming ease in the WinterABC fool you into thinking that its easy… I also look at some of the prompts and sweat and say, nope, I am not writing that one.. the hardest post for me this challenge was the feminism prompt which I wrote on The F-word followed by the social commentary one for round about reasons. The rest of my WinterABC2025 posts can be found on button below:

#WinterBC25

As a blogging uncle, obviously, I should plug you with some of the posts that are still in my head from this edition of WinterABC in no particular order🏆

Joseyhina’s world: Community Becomes A Muse
Penelope Sanyu: Every story has a closing chapter, even this one! Sigh
The Baobab: Takudzwanashe on air!
The Sparrow: The Power Of Storytelling
Bird View: Writing My Way Forward
Dialectics: WinterABC25 – The Mad Blogger Thoughts
Intentionally Beautiful: Feminism Has A Voice
The Loud Introvert: Marriage: Traditional Steps In Zambia
Lindani’s Space: Can I make a living in Malawi as a blogger
Ntomby Writes: Writing Gives Me Wings

You can also browse some of the WinterABC posts via the WordPress reader in the link below.

WinterABC25

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that WinterABC is the crucible through which African Bloggers are shaped, and we are taking back our narrative one blog post at a time… If you see us in the streets do stop by and say hello…

Its always bittersweet getting to the end of June, but now I return to my at least one post a week blogging schedule.

Whats been happening in your neck of the woods?

~B

#WinterABC25

Buy Me Coffee

Support My Tangle Of Words ☕

$2.00

Click here to purchase.

#Africa #blogging #Blogroll #coffeeshare #GlobalSouth #WinterABC2025 #winterabc25 #WinterBC #WinterBC25

Of Coffee With WinterABC2025

WinterABC2025

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/becomingthemuse/episodes/Coffee-With-WinterABC2025-e33mr2b

If you were having coffee with me, I would welcome you to my tangle words. While its technically autumn until the winter solstice on the 21st of June, the dropping temperatures indicate its winter. Forecast predicts that this winter will be colder than the previous ones, even though our winter temperatures might match summer temperatures of some places.

One of our late former president while very articulate was notorious for not mincing his words and would tell other statesmen to go to hell particularly Britain’s Prime Ministers. He once told Tony Blair to keep his England and he would keep his Zimbabwe and added that he didn’t care much for the cold country.

I was thinking of this as I watched a train wreck of a state visit when the South African President was “ambushed” at the White House over the genocide of  White South African farmers. A story which plays out very differently when seen from Africa and South Africa’s side.

Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump in Oval Office

I felt embarrassed on behalf of the South African president, imagine being summoned by another president and being treated like a class prefect who has not been keeping the students in order. Although he tried to address the issue diplomatically, it felt like he was throwing some of his people under the bus than stand up for his country. I am sure that had it been Robert Mugabe that meeting would have played up very differently.

The Guardian Archive article March 2002

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that as the days get shorter and the nights get colder this side of the hemisphere its time once to gather around a digital fireplace for a digital storytelling winter festival we call the WinterABC — an African Blogging Challenge hosted by Afrobloggers.

One of the reasons behind starting this digital storytelling festival was because if one were to search the internet for a blogging challenge or blogging prompts they would find some generic prompts which are tailored more for the Global North. The other reason was to dispel the notion that blogging is a frivolous activity, glorifed diaries and gossip tabloids, which is how the majority of people view blogging, but when you call it digital storytelling, people pay attention; words have power.

Graffiti with punctuation

The other reason behind this digital storytelling festival was to show the versatility of bloggers and blogging and the different narratives and perspectives from our lived experiences shaping stories, so many differences yet so much similarities in our stories. What you think is a unique experience might be more common than you realise. So do check out the various bloggers participating in this edition of WinterABC to get a slice of Africa from different bloggers in different countries.

If you were having coffee with me, I would ask what the deal with politicians and ribbon cutting is, can one not complete a project and just soft launch it without turning it into a theatrical performance, or its all part of the politricks. Anyhoo our president officially opened the 88 million dollar Trabablas Interchange which was initially projected to be complete by the 31st July 2024 and is finally done a year later.

Trabablas

From the right angle it looks impressive but a closer look makes you wonder how managed to gobble up 88 milllion dollars…

If you were having coffee with I would tell you that sometimes the power of storytelling is in keeping us accountable and our narratives accurate and truthful.

Whats been happening in your neck of the woods

~B

#WinterABC2025

Support my tangle of words

Buy me coffee or an interchange 😂

$2.00

Click here to purchase.

#afrobloggers #blogging #coffeeshare #DonaldTrump #RobertMugabe #storytelling #TrabablasInterchange #winter #winterabc #WinterABC2025

Coffee With When The Cows Came Home

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/becomingthemuse/episodes/Of-Coffee-When-The-Cows-Come-e2kn87m

If you were having coffee with me I would welcome you to my tangle of words, make yourself at home, have a hug in a mug, some liquid warmth would be good, winter is definitely here.

Apparently, it’s the worst season to be single, according to social media which is full of people asking how single people survive the long days and cold nights. I hope they keep same energy when the summer sweltering heat comes through and I ask how they are sharing their bed with a human stove. Anyway how do we survive the cold, water bottles, lots of blankets and pillows arranged in a fort. Ok, thanks bye!.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that while scrolling Facebook, I ran into anniversary update that could have very easily been my 20th anniversary had I been a teen groom. Now that I am at age where I mention a female name to my village people, they look at me suggestively to ask if this one is the one… as if its some sacrifice to be thrown into a volcano as tribute, to stop it from erupting.

I sometimes wonder if I turned down a gift from the ancestors, who only give once. There is a Shona Proverb chawawana batisisa mudzimu haipe kaviri meaning hold tight to what you have the ancestors dont gift twice… Them ancestors be a tough crowd.

So some back story, I am an African Prince, and I don’t mean the internet kind who will entangle you into a romance scam. Don’t let my cool demeanour fool you, I come from a royal lineage and I also own a square foot of land in the Scottish Highlands which makes me a Lord, I have a certificate that says so and all, so it must be true.

Back to my African ancestry… My grandfather used to have quite the extensive herd of cattle, being royalty has its perks. He was also a generous man, strict, but generous. He would lend out his cattle to families in need, under the guise of asking them to help him look after his cattle; in return they got milk from the cows and would keep some of the off-spring, that way someone who had no cattle of their own would end up with cattle, an ingenious way of helping that kept everyone’s pride intact.

Years after my grandfather transcended to a higher plane of existence, there was a family which still owed grandad for his cattle. A combination of drought and disease had wiped away their livestock leaving them indebted and unable to return the cattle as per arrangement. While no one from the family held it against them, they took it upon themselves to find ways of honouring their debt.

If you are having coffee with me, I would tell you that traditionally cows are a symbol of wealth and prestige; not only do they provide sustenance, they provide labour and transportation, they are required in various traditional ceremonies, from cheka ukama to mombe yehumai, they are the key currency in bride price when marrying… Cattle are big deal.

So it came to be that one school holiday, I visited my grandmother Mbuyahwe and I ate a frog for the first time. The bull frog, homu yatatani or daddy’s cow is a dish fit for a king and once I ate the frog I was regarded as a household head able to hold court on household issues. That was when my grandmother informed me that there were people who sought an audience with me (well not me personally, but anyone who could speak for the family).

The family that owed cattle had come up with a new plan to settle their affairs. They had a daughter, who would soon be of the marrying age and would grant her hand in marriage TO ME and waiver the bride price in-lieu of the debt they owed.

I couldn’t refuse without making them lose face but I couldn’t accept,right?… right?

What would my grandfather have done? He was master diplomat and the wisdom of my ancestry flows in my veins.

Hi mina Beaton
wa Gilbert
wa Tsamwisi
wa Muzamani
wa Ndalega
wa Ngwena
wa Matsena
wa Bhangwani
weka Xinyori Xahomba
Wakanga nzela ribwe

I accepted their proposal, thereby cancelling the family’s debt and then in turn I asked my betrothed to free me from the obligation of our union, which she graciously granted.

If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that I had all but forgotten about this incident until I saw her anniversary post on Facebook and a tiny bit of me wondered if in a parallel universe, an alternate version had simply said I Do…. The path not taken…

Whats been going on your neck of the woods?

~B

#WinterABC24

Buy Me Coffee

Support my blog buy me a coffee or maybe a cow 🐮

$2.00

Click here to purchase.

https://becomingthemuse.net/2024/06/10/coffee-with-when-the-cows-came-home/

#bridePrice #coffee #coffeeshare #customs #debts #marriage #tradition #wedding #winter #WinterABC2024 #WinterABC24