It is not the same any more

Q: What is the worst thing about a lazy day out in nature?

A: The journey back home.

As children we loved visiting our favorite picnic spots in Paarl. It was a carefree day of fun under tall trees next to a little river.
We had a picnic, explored the environment, had a swim, and ate ourselves dik then we started all over again, while the old people had to sleep it off on the camp chairs or a blanket on the grass.

I no longer consider such an outing fun. Just the thought of having to dodge the traffic, on the way back to Tableview, undoes all the relaxation of the day. My my nerves are as knotted as it has been before the trip when I get back home.

Then there the idiots and smart Alex’es who know just how to bring your blood to boiling point, when they squeeze into your lane, while you queue at the bottle neck in the road into Tableview.
You also have to figure out which is the best lane to queue in. I seem to mark one car in the other lane and see who moves the quickest. One can never see the cause of the holdup until you passed it.

When you get home you have all the picnic things to clean away and the family will be looking at you with big eyes for their next tummy fillers or just coffee to get the old nerves back to its normal stress levels.

If you live in and around Tableview, it is silly to go all the way to Paarl just to sit under the trees.
We may not have many shady trees in our nature areas left, but we still have a lovely dam and beaches where we can enjoy a relaxing day out.

People, who live in Tableview, do not appreciate or utilize the resources right on their doorsteps.

We have some of the best shops, nature walks, parks, water sport areas and beaches right here, on our doorsteps, and much of it is free. The only thing we do not have a lot of in our nature areas are shady trees to sit under, so perhaps a tranquil visit to deeper in the country now and again may still be warranted.

My garden is like a rain-forest. If I want to sit under a shady tree near water, I just have to put the sprinkler on and fold the beach chair open. I possibly have more birds concentrated on one spot than anywhere in Rietvlei.

Five big trees have been cut down in our area recently. It is the height of breeding season so we have birds breeding at eye level.

It is difficult to know when it is the best time to trim trees now that conservation removed all the alien trees, which is just about all the trees in the nature area. The birds seem to compensate by breeding all the year around.


Of wat praat ek alles

Ag man! Dis lekker in die Army,

Original post from the white-granny blog

When I lived in Australia, my father used to send me some Afrikaans tapes which he recorded from the radio.
When I worked the 9-5 shift the traffic from our home was first gear and stop all the way to work.
A 10 min journey took an hour.
It was the best time.
I used to make flask of coffee. Put my vehicle in first gear and drove it like an automatic car.
No gear changes. It was a straight road so there was no need to turn. Just stop and start.

I rolled down the windows (No crime in Brisbane in those days)
Poured my coffee;
Spread the newspaper over the steering wheel. (No cell phones back then)
Then I turned the tape recorder on and listened to my Afrikaans songs while I read the newspaper and drank my coffee ……… and drive.

Here is one of those songs from Chris Blignaut (I think). I am not 100% sure of the words.

I shall have to scratch my old Chris Blignaut tape out somewhere.

—————————————————————-

Ag man! Dis lekker in die Army,
van Tempie tot Grootfontein!
In ‘n ratel op Otavi,
of hoog in ‘n bos aeroplane.
‘n Rang wil ek nie dra nie,
net ‘n R1 hier styf langs my sy.
Ag man, dis lekker in die army,
en ‘n troepie die wil ek graag bly.

Een Woensdag het ek ge A-wol
Die rugby offisier was vies
toe laat hy my pale toe leapard crawl
en ek word vir die DB gekies
‘n rang wil ek nie dra nie
net ‘n R1 styf teen my sy
Ag man dis lekker in die Army
net’n troepie wil ek graag bly

As jy van die kos dalk siek word,
wat jy innie army kry.
Wees bly dat jy daarvoor betaal word,
hulle moemit jou danger-pay.
Ek spaar dit en vergeet dit,
in ‘n bank en daar lê dit doodstil.
En as ek uit ge-clear het
oop ek wat ek begeer het,
dis ‘n ding wat hier onder my brul.

Koor
Ag man! Dis lekker in die Army,
van Tempie tot Grootfontein!
In ‘n ratel op Otavi,
of hoog in ‘n bos aeroplane.
‘n Rang wil ek nie dra nie,
net ‘n R1 hier styf langs my sy.
Ag man, dis lekker in die army,
en ‘n troepie die wil ek graag bly.
As my pa wil dan sal ek hier bly!

---------------------------

The song in this post is about voluntary army training in order to protect the country against terrorism.

The thought that comes to mind is that many things that is normal during war time, becomes crime during peace time.

The enemies of war become your friends of tomorrow.

So why do people not just skip the fighting and resolve their differences.

At least you will have more chance of living out your life to the full.

Of wat praat ek alles?

My Christmas tree a Tumbleweed

2008

My Christmas tree is Tumbleweed.

When we were very little, back in the 50's and 60's, my father used to go to the bush and saw a branch from a pine tree for our Christmas tree.

Later he bought a tree (branch) from someone selling it at the road-side.

Later still whole baby trees were sold for Christmas.

I cannot remember when I saw the first plastic tree, but fake ones were never a consideration in our home - not until I went to England in the seventies.

It took some time to get used to white plastic trees also. Green ones looked more natural.

Since I was in control of choosing and decorating my own tree, after I got married, I never wanted a "dead" tree for Christmas.

"Killing a tree for Christmas was just not my thing.

I would buy a tree growing in a pot. It did not necessary have to be a pine tree. If I did not buy one specially, I would choose one from my collection of pot plants.

My hobby is to bonsai trees grown from seeds or baby trees found growing wild.

Sooner or later I allow them to grow up and they get planted out into my garden. If they are lucky they become my Christmas tree before being planted out.

This year I was pondering on which pot plant to use for a Christmas tree, when a tumbleweed came rolling down the road and landed at my feet.

It was as if it was begging me: "Choose me, please, please." "Let me be pretty before I go to the garbage can."

So this year my Christmas tree is tumbleweed.

"My Christmas tree a tumble weed" sounds like a good title for book.