This week Patti Moed of the esteemed Lens-Artist quartet encourages us to look up and share our interpretation of what we see; go-see what she sees.

Above all net beauty
I toiled with the idea to post a few print screens of the spreadsheets I was working on. The Lookup function in Excel is used a lot when working with data. Fortunately I realized in the nick of time that I actually do have a life and decided against an Excel tutorial…
My next option was to copy Patti as I have recently photographed the interior and the exterior of a church (be it a very different one). But then I realized I wasn’t brave enough to copy her and let that idea go (her surname Moed, translates to courageous in Afrikaans).
Saturday I took my daughter to a beautiful, but very expensive place – Stellenbosch. Expensive, as she is studying at Stellenbosch University next year… She wrote NBT (National Benchmark Tests) which is compulsory if studying there. As it takes a few hours I decided to go and capture something. Photography is such a testosterone driven activity with all the things you capture! It surprises me that the Lens-Artist quartet are female!
What I am featuring today I didn’t plan to capture, it captured me.
Soccer is known as The Beautiful Game (even before Christiano Ronaldo’s shirtless poses, ladies). Some sources claim that the great Pele was the first to coin the phrase, but it can also be due to a marketing ploy to claim just that. In South Africa there was a Cricketing marketing campaign built around the slogan: “I don’t like Cricket, I love it”. I grew up with Rugby and Cricket and Soccer was only introduced to me in my adult years at my workplace. It is actually quite incredible, the banter male adults can get up to in either supporting their team or shooting down the opposing team. I was into soccer for the banter and it was fun making an opposing teams’ supporters mad. Was fun – as responsibilities grew, time became limited, but even today there is a fantasy league at work based on the English Premier League (EPL).
But I wasn’t thinking of all of this when (unlike energetic soccer players) I ambled onto this field. Standing on this soccer field in the Jonkershoek Valley between 2 mountain ranges, on the first day which could be deemed Spring (weather wise), I realized that regardless of the quality of the soccer played here, it will always be beautiful.

The goalkeeper’s view

An opposing view
The Beautiful Game evolves around the beauty of a ball being kicked above and beyond the goal keepers reach, into the net. If a player manages this regularly the soccer community looks up at him and the Beautiful game loves him. Looking up at the trees I decided that a ball in the net is not a prerequisite for netting beauty.

Beauty in the net

Look up
Announcement by organizers: in the unlikely event that the game is boring, for today only we have special offer at no extra cost, look up and enjoy nature!
This soccer field has very limited facilities but if it should be rated, based on the beauty of its location, it may be the highest rated stadium in the world.

location location location

Beauty cycling in beauty, the road next to the field. Great place to jog as well
My daughter and I after her test enjoying something at Katjiepiering restaurant in the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden. Of course this is a legitimate photo – we are looking up at the lens!
A song of ascents. Psalm 121
1 I look up toward the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Creator of heaven and earth!
Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:11 -12
A great response to the challenge Abrie, those close-ups of the net look fabulous! :o)
LikeLike
Thank you for whipping up this wisdom 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very welcome! 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderlike fotos – NET asemrowend wonderlik!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 meer as Net dankie
LikeLike
Pragtige fotos. Ek is nie n sport fan nie maar beslis n nature freak…love die omgewing dis pragtig verby
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ja daar is mense wat beweer dat Jonkershoek een van die mooiste valleie in die land is maar dit het kompetisie in Mpumalanga
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oe wow. Laat my wonder waar orals is sulke mooi plekke wat ek nog nooit gesien het
LikeLike
Daar is maar net een Stellenbosch. Die slotparagraaf is die heel mooiste.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dankie Toortsie
LikeLike
Very creative Abrie. All terrific, and loved your story. But of course my favorite is the image with your beautiful daughter. Life is good my friend😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Tina
LikeLike
On another day I won’t be abbreviated Abrie
LikeLike
Netmooi, opkykend en diepgelowig.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dankie Lekkervurig
LikeLike
Sjoe dis darem mooi daar Abrie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Alhoewel jy dit al voorheen genoem het, besef ek nou eers werklik dat jou seun nes my dogter in Matriek is, wat my baie opgewonde maak aangesien jy nog bloedjonk is en dit bteken dat ek ook bloedjonk is! O ja dankie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jy weet mos, ons is in die fleur van ons lewens! 😉
LikeLike
Stellenbosch en Jonkershoek. Jip, mooi omgewing en mooi herinneringe. Dis pragtige fotos – die natuur en jou dogter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Baie dankie Hester
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dis net mooie fotos. Weet nie waar jy al jou idees kry nie, ek sou nooit die net afgeneem het nie en dit maak ‘n stunning anderste foto
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ek het nie gegaan om die net af te neem nie; ek vermoed dis my aandagafleibaarheid wat my met hierdie idees gee. Ek onthou moes soos ‘n goudvis 3 sekondes op ‘n slag vergeet als en dan is alles weer nuut. Partymaal is ek gelukkig genoeg om ‘n oaar fotos in ‘n 3 sekonde siklus te neem… Het vandag na werk weer iets per ongeluk ontdek (maar diit is vir ‘n ander dag). En dankie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great idea Abrie….you always find a way to make the topic interesting.
Stellenbosch is one of my favorite places to visit! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Ally it is indeed so visitable
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure Abrie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks like a great outdoor spot for running around…perfect for soccer. Nice finishing shot…looking up at the lens! Well done Abrie.
LikeLike
Thanks Andy, I must admit i used the phrase once before in a WordPress Photo Challenge https://abriejoubert.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/look-up-to-my-lens-table-mountain/
LikeLike
Ooooo ek stem sokker is ‘n “beautiful game!!!” Dis stunning foto’s van die net en omgewing. Jy het die beste vir laaste gehou.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Die lied het by my opgekom toe ek jou woorde gelees het
Above All
Michael W. Smith
Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what you’re worth
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all
LikeLike
Hierdie is inderdaad ‘n pragtige lied
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jy s duidellik met ‘n Engelsman getroud en het dus meer blootstelling aan the beautiful game 🙂 Dankie Kameel
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dis altyd die moeite werd om hier by jou te lees – dankie, Abrie.
LikeLike
Baie dankie Frannie, waardeer altyd as ekk so ‘n kompliment kry, Veral van iemand wat kan lees 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLike
Interesting , as always, to follow your thoughts. And photos of you and your lovely daughters are always great as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can follow my thoughts
😱. I have 🛑 stopped thinking 💭. Thanks Leya appreciates your thoughts
LikeLike
😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Photography is such a testosterone driven activity with all the things you capture! It surprises me that the Lens-Artist quartet are female!” Well…we have got some of that testosterone too…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Said like a true Viking!
LikeLike
I love your response to this theme, Abrie! Beautiful and creative. Thank you for sharing the story with us. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Amy I enjoyed this spesific theme. What the heck I enjoy all of them
LikeLiked by 1 person
Appreciate your support, Abrie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful story and great pics Abrie!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Obrigado Paulo
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that close-up of the net, Abrie against that gorgeous blue clarity of the sky. I had to laugh at this: “Photography is such a testosterone driven activity with all the things you capture! It surprises me that the Lens-Artist quartet are female!” The stories of you and your daughters are wonderful.
LikeLike