A fish and fowl affair
Maybe it is happening at last: two days ago, I watched a thick smudge of frenzied activity slide past in the sea. The gannets – must be thousands of them – were crazy, and the sea was foaming. It had
Tag: Eastern Cape
Back where it began
Almost 30 years ago, V and I spotted each other for the first time. We were students at Rhodes University in Grahamstown at the time, young and beautiful (as young people are). It was an instant attraction across that uncrowded
Distractions and diversions
It is meant to be a quick drive to the shop to buy milk and bread. It turns into an excursion. The trouble is that I spot a pod of dolphins flowing lazily in the blue, blue waves, and I
When the wind blows
When life deals you lemons, the saying goes, make lemonade. In the Eastern Cape, we have our own version: when it’s windy, fly a kite. And watch the march of the sand dunes. As for the lemons … well, eat
When freedom is normal
It’s Saturday on Freedom Weekend. My body is tired after this back-breaking work of digging out weeds, grass and other invasive stuff from the aloe garden. So I am happy to pounce on V’s suggestion that we drive to Chintsa
Everyday magic
Girl fairy helper is blowing out the candles on her birthday cake – she is four – when she spots him. “Buck,” she says. Buck (antelope), indeed. At first, I think he is a bushbuck, but it turns out that
Familiar comfort
The milkwood tree has been a constant in my life for as long as I remember. The trees grow prolifically in the coastal dune forests of the Wild Coast in the former Transkei “bantustan”, where I grew up. As we
Inside the storm
Living here, on the south-eastern edge of South Africa, we experience some really wild weather. I once watched a black thing ooze over the sea from the west; it took about 10 minutes to reach us, and it was vicious.
Here and now
Not that long ago, I clawed and sweated my way along the corporate ladder. This was the done thing, so it seemed, and I worked hard to meet the goals that my society taught me were good. When I was