Mirror Image Strangers

Motes of dust hanging in the air dance in the rays of light sliding slowly down the paneled walls.  Johnny's Pub is filled to capacity with six tourists, Johnny and the Bar Wench so the bubble of conversation along with the musty smell of old wood peculiar to old, tin clad buildings is overpowering.

But hey, it's Friday night in Pilgrims Rest and Johnny's is the place to be.  We're the vanguard for tomorrow's photographic club outing to Pilgrims.  OK, I admit, under the guise of "wouldn't it be lovely to get away for the weekend and combine that with the club outing?" there may have been some ulterior thoughts of getting a jump on the group and unearthing some photogenic nuggets but nonetheless Him Outdoors enjoys any excuse to get away and so we did.

A friendly stranger called Stuart introduced himself, adding that he'd been sitting there longer than he ought to and the wife was beginning to make noises.  We, however, apparently looked like fun people so he graciously called for his ABF and we began the discovery process of getting to know each other.

In the odd way of Africa, Him Outdoors found out that he and Stuart had worked for the same company in days of yore and had many acquaintances in common. And Stuart's wife, Anne, lived in Pilgrims Rest while Stuart lived and worked at Sun City, returning home once a month.  Another Long Distance Marriage - We Are Not Alone.

You could play the opening bars of the Twilight Zone theme music here, I guess. Anne turned up in search of her husband and magically an ABF appeared in her hand while Stuart, having finished the practise round, began his real ABF.  That Bar Wench is really good!

The War Story swopping changed from sales to LDM's. Anne, according to Stuart, is totally entrenched in Pilgrims Rest with her work at a nearby luxury hotel, her social group, painting and lifestyle.  Which he grinds away under difficult circumstances to financially support.

Anne (displaying an impressive array of facial expressions behind Stuart's back) gave the true account.  They both really enjoy living apart for much of the month and getting on with their individual lives.  Time spent together is heartily enjoyed until that magic clock ticks over just before departure and the niggle factor roars in, leading to the huge sigh of relief that accompanies the cheerful hand wave she directs at his departing car.

It could have been Him Outdoors and I telling this tale and interestingly, both Anne and I were highly entertained by the male versions while the men's indignant cries of 'woe is me' rose higher and higher.

Proof that women lead full, engaging lives and don't need a full time partner? Or that life is so frantically busy we don't notice they aren't there?  

It was wonderful to meet two lovely people and to discover that we aren't abnormal.  Unusual and not mainstream, but not completely off the reservation.   

The Big Issue

This Blog is named "Lightly" for a reason.  It's a space for lightness - of soul, of humour and of being.  There is plenty of angst, anger, frustration and forceful opinion in the world without adding more fuel.

But today, Friday 23rd September, I'm drooping with Issue Fatigue.  Over the past few months, I've consciously avoided diving too deeply into the daily news, or entering the social media fray about anything.  A bit mushroomy, yes, but my head is exploding with the constantly growing and endless fug of rage over Issues.

The list is endless - it's quicker to itemise the South African politicians, Councillors and Government officials NOT mentioned in dodgy deals or trough hogging than to name and shame those unveiled daily.

Then, of course, the relentless squawking over municipalities and Government departments who are not doing their jobs properly, infrastructure collapsing, water (when we have it) a poisonous morass, poaching, theft, abuse of power, neglect, crime, students, incomprehensible and obviously moronic decisions affecting the country and a bunch of spouses murdering their dearly beloved fills page after page, airwaves and bandwidth to bulging.

And as the Issue Platform groans and sags beneath the ever growing pile of Issues dumped upon it daily, the keyboard experts and specialists rub their hands in glee and jump in.  Before you know it, a shared post about so called 'students' smashing a venerable, and valuable, education property has been hijacked by social media trolls and insults between the commentators fly like horse dung. The main Issue is trampled under foul, abusive language thrown around by people who don't know each other at all, let alone well enough to have an opinion of the other's intellect, social standing, upbringing, morals and beliefs. Which doesn't hold people back for a minute from publicly airing their views and judgement about someone they have never, nor will ever, meet.

It's the very lowest form of discourse, yet grows like a horrid virus.  Even the Issues have Issues now, nothing ever seems to be resolved and removed from the pile as we build a wobbly Tower of Babel.

Please, for the love of all that we hold dear, can we Stop, Pause, Touch and Re-engage?  Quietly, politely and respectfully?  As any veteran of marital strife will tell you, shouting at and over each other doesn't sort out issues, it just leaves the combatants hoarse and exhausted.  (Maybe those murderous spouses realised this and chose a more active option?!)


Don't get me wrong - I love living somewhere that has real issues to solve.  It's just the infinite number that continue on and on, growing little issues of their own like pimples upon carbuncles, that are getting me down at the moment.

No wonder there's no room for happy stories, the Issue Platform bulges sky high.  And deep down I KNOW that what is out there on the Issue Platform, like the protesting students, is a fraction of what is really going on day to day. There are good, generous hearted people getting on with their lives and being kind to those around them.  Bank clerks and mechanics who go the extra mile. Car guards who beam cheerfully as they help unload into your car a staggering amount of groceries they couldn't afford in a month of Sundays. The warmth of the Police sergeant eager to show off his K9 partner's skills. 

Anyhow, with that all off my chest and seeing as it's Friday, and I really, really want to begin the weekend with a smile, here's a chirpy song especially for you from the awesome Pharrell Williams.  If this doesn't cheer you up and get you smiling and bopping, there is just no hope!

Happy weekend everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

Home Town Through Outsider Eyes

It has to be said that we see more of many of our far-flung network of friends and family now that we live in a little, out-of-the-way town than we ever did when we lived in the big smoke.

Jacaranda season - Chief Mgiyeni Khumalo street becomes a lilac dell

Some, bless them, make the journey east over the escarpment specially to see us but an astonishingly large portion visit the area regularly anyway, and naturally drop in to while away an hour or a few days with us.

Lekker! (an Afrikaans word difficult to translate but usually uttered with glee, approbation and a great deal of satisfaction.  You get the drift.) Our home at times has a revolving door, spitting out ex-pat-now-Australians as it envelops Joburgers. Along with a birdsighting list, we should have an Origins list, which this year alone includes Australians, Yanks, Brits, Joburgers, Durbanites and more ranging from 11 years of age to 77 and with diverse interests. 

And that's before we include the guests we've hosted in our small accommodation venture, so you can imagine the bustle of busyness in which we live. Exhausting indeed but always so special to retie those friendship knots more firmly and to meet an assortment of lovely people for the first time.

Water, agriculture and town all in one view

The second duty of hosting after ensuring guests are comfortably ensconced with a glass of wine is, of course, to play area travel guide.  Kruger, naturally, generally tops the list (but if ONE more visitor returns with tales of seeing the Big 5 before lunch, travelling the same road we've driven ruts into in our regular vain attempts to do the same, they will check out sooner than planned!)

And going to Mbombela Stadium to watch rugby will never be the same again after watching SA-Argentina with the Karlsson mob, supplemented by running into a few of Him Outdoors' old rugby mates who'd travelled all the way from Hartebeespoort to support the Boks.

Unexpectedly, it was the Wobblie's eating and drinking tour of White River town that opened our eyes to the lovely places under our noses that we haven't popped into yet.  Dad's honeymoon with Val had us in stitches, as the Lovebirds posted photograph after photograph onto Facebook (yes, really!) of them washing samoosas down with a craft beer at Phat Boys and buying game pies, game pate and naartjie preserve at Carmel (which they swear has the best cake in town). Until they went to Sip and were entranced by the Alice in Wonderland decor and decadent pastries.

And it wasn't just the gourmand offerings, either. Rae Kirton from Dynamic Vision spent ages repairing Dad's spectacles and refused to charge.  Overall, the travelling Wobblies fell head over heels in love with White River.  The people, the friendliness they encountered everywhere, the beauty, pace of life and the myriad of special little offerings, nooks and crannies that make up the town.  They commented on how clean the main street was and how much they enjoyed being able to wander on foot from one coffee shop to the next, browsing at all the shops in between.

Listening to their excited recounting of the day's adventures every evening for a week was a sharp reminder about how easily we are blinkered to our closest surrounds.  It's time to ramp out of the rut and utilise more of what's in our backyard instead of travelling the same old path.