“Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter.
Someone will always be younger.
But they will never be you.”
Freddie Mercury
Emerging on a sunny and windy wintry Tuesday, after a long weekend in South Africa, here I am again thoughtfully providing you with some more reading material.
On the brink of the long weekend, history was made in South Africa with the inception of a Government of National Unity (GNU) and the election of a President and Speaker at the inaugural setting of the National Assembly..
Chatting to my Mom last Wednesday, after delivering all her shopping to her, and talking about the potential happening of a GNU coalition, I told her that the GNU kept making me think of the famous Flanders and Swann song, "The Gnu Song". Flanders and Swann were a famous British comedy duo. When I was little (you know, just the other day ago), I went with my parents and brothers to a performance of Flanders and Swann in the school hall at Kingswood College - a very clear and happy memory for me (and yes, clear because again it was not so long ago!) If you want to listen to the song, here's the link to it:
Carl Niehaus who has deflected from the ANC to the EFF, all dressed up for the National Assembly on Friday. He is not taken at all seriously by any intelligent citizens and looking at this photo it is not hard to see why this is the case! Somewhere a circus is missing one of its clowns......
Soapbox rant:
Recently I saw a post on Facebook on a community page with someone complaining that the car guards at a small shopping centre had not done anything to protect her from being targeted at the ATM in the shopping centre. A comment to her post was along the lines, you expect protection for R2.00 and the response was, and how many R2's a day do the car guards get? Steam immediately started erupting from my ears as I was immediately annoyed. Firstly, the car guards are just that - car guards; they are not a shopper's personal bodyguard; they are not armed and yet it seems that some privileged individuals expect total and absolute protection from car guards for the "princely sum" of R2 (hope my sarcastic tone comes through). So often I do not have cash in my purse in either bank notes or coins form; its safer to be cashless so its not guaranteed, for the car guards, that they get a R2, or less or more, from each and every person. Everyone also knows it is safer to draw money from the tills at the supermarket rather than an ATM and if this is not possible (because yes, it is not always possible to resort to drawing money from the supermarket), if a person leaves their phone and pays attention to their surroundings, are observant and aware, they can protect themselves from potential scamming at an ATM. Moral of the story : car guards are not a person's bodyguard or security guard!
After another amazing session with my body talk practitioner last week Thursday, which brought up an incredible amount of "stuff", I was thinking about where my rebellious and stubborn streak emanates from and how when I feel pressurised and pushed; I will do a complete 360 degree revolution, either doing the complete opposite or simply walking away. In case you are wondering, this is not related to my not-so-recent work employment change of status but rather in relation to relationships, friendships and lifestyle.
My permanent fear of failure which lurks deep down, came out in my session and it apparently emanates from the paternal side of my family and is as hereditary as arthritis and eye colour. Reflecting on this, I think this fuels my rebellious and stubborn streak as contradictory and contrary as it seems. When my second ex, the man-child disaster that he was, always had to hold onto me as if I was his lifeline; I am all for personal affection but there is a time and place for everything. I love giving and receiving hugs; but am too independent and a lover of my own space, to be an active participant in "PDA" (public displays of affection) and far too many incidents in the days before "me too", when a number of men thought it was mandatory to touch up and "crop a feel" of a woman, hate the 'wandering hands society', the phrase we coined for those who wanted to indulge in being a creepy feeler and/or an octopus! The Man-Child-Disaster used to try to dictate to me that I had to sit next to him in our lounge, on a couch, clamped to his side as though I was his possession and prisoner. Ultimately, in the days, weeks and months, before Morgan, Tristan and I beat a hasty retreat from the Man-Child-Disaster and his home, I would avoid the lounge, and him, as much as possible, because I am neither a possession nor a prisoner. And I was not going to accommodate his insecurities and neediness, all of which drove my sons and I away from him (together with his dependency on Black Label).
On the lighter side of life, the weekend before the long weekend, was spent with me having brunch with Alyssa followed by a little retail therapy with her. Where we had brunch (Mugg & Bean) was quite small and we sat at a table right next to a lady on her own; Alyssa and her had been chatting to each other before I arrived and there was some other chatter with her, and we heard about her birthday which was the next day and how she was retiring, where she was retiring and to be polite, we indulged her and engaged. However, at some point, she blatantly eaves-dropped on my telling Alyssa about how I had found out that someone I knew as a baby, had tragically and recently lost his battle with cancer as, unbeknown to everyone, he had some allergic reaction to a component in his chemotherapy medication, and despite the very best efforts of everyone treating him, he sadly died. He was 45 and I knew him, as a baby, because his parents were friends of friends of mine. When I reconnected with this friend in about 2018, she told me Stephen had been diagnosed with cancer, and would sporadically keep me updated on his cancer journey together with news of his Mom etc; you need to know that he was diagnosed with cancer long before the Covid pandemic. She had to interject when I told Alyssa about Stephen's sad demise, alluding that so many people are dying because of the Covid vaccine - yes, just my lack-of-luck, to be sitting next to a vehement anti-vaxxer and her conspiracy theories. Why do proponents of conspiracy theories have this urge to spread their loony-toon ideas with other people? She could have (and should have) kept to herself and not interjected herself into the discussion; but no, she had to, to make her thoughts on the Covid vaccine known, and, of course, on Covid and the "bad flu" theory (I wanted to ask her whether she tells people who are mourning the loss of loved ones through covid, that it was simply "bad flu"). She also was so proud that she never wore mask and again I wondered whether she told front-line-medical professionals who were treating patients in hospital, and wearing masks and face shields, that she refused to wear a mask. I tried to politely shut her down by telling that my late Dad was a scientist and I was always on the side of science; that I was vaccinated and boosted, had always worn a mask, had never contracted covid and had zero side effects of the vaccine. Invisible steam was erupting from my ears in volcanic eruptions!
Over that weekend, I watched the British series, "Breathtaking" adapted for tv from the book of the same name, written by Dr Rachel Clarke. She wrote the book (and work on the tv adaptation with another doctor) based on her own experiences caring for people with Covid. In addition to interviews with colleagues, patients and their families, it reveals what life was like inside the NHS during the first wave of COVID-19 in the UK. It is brilliantly depicted though harrowing and Joanne Froggatt, a brilliant British actress, was in the role of the protagonist doctor in the series.
Spontaneously, Johan and I went out for a casual dinner on the Saturday evening of that weekend and on Sunday we embarked on a roadtrip to "Cowboy Town" deep in the heart of Krugersdorp. "Cowboy Town" is pet-friendly so Cinnamon and Elmo went along with us on our adventure into this relic of the Wild Wild West. Amongst the stetsons and cowboy boots, we roamed until not too long after our meanderings started, Cinnamon decided to just cut right across my path and literally knocked me off my feet - burning with abject embarrassment as I lay prostrate flat-on-my back on the ground, my embarrassment multiplied as a polite gent was immediately thrusting his hand out to give me a hand up. If ever there was a time for a pothole to immediately appear to swallow me up, it was then and there!! Faking a huge grin in a futile attempt to absolve my embarrassment and ignoring the aches and pains silently screaming up and down my body, thanking him after he got me standing upright again, I told him I was fine and only my pride was hurt which was true. I am sporting a few bruises but doing my usual "fake it till you make it" routine, we continued our exploring Cowboy Town (Johan had been walking a bit ahead of Cinnamon and me at the time of my fall from grace, as Elmo was racing along and Johan had been almost running to keep up with him). Cowboy Town is full of quirky shops with lots of vintage and / or retro items, loads of junk, items which both make your eyes pop out of your head while you fight the urge to cover your eyes; there is live music, an open-air flea market and so many places serving food. I was delighted to find vintage black and white photos (described as postcards) of Rome and Pompeii at ridiculously cheap prices so I bagged those, grazie mille and eventually we settled down at a table at Billy the Bread. Our meal was so filling (as well as delicious) that we had no appetite for dinner that night; heading home we agreed that we would return and look forward to a return visit this time with Morgan and Alyssa, and Tristan.
The week between the weekend and long weekend was busy; weird how being unemployed also results in the days disappearing. A meeting for some ad hoc work happened on Monday morning followed by a great catch up over too many cappuccinos with Lindy; a fun morning at the Secret Garden with Loren; shopping and library book selection for my Mom; a great breakfast and awesome catch up with Bev and Mohini at Doppio Zero; two visits to my Mom; an eye-opening enlightening body talk session with Mia; hair pampering at 7 Sins; and a meeting on Friday morning followed by a coffee catch up with Davida while my very dirty Dolce (my car) was washed, is the summary of the week (along with daily crosswords, Duolingo and sessions on my rebounder). And I did manage to do some writing and work on my new book.
The long weekend was very eventful and socialable - a morning of shopping errands was followed by Johan and I having a light lunch and catch up with Lindy and Mali; Sunday morning was Father's Day, which in our family is Family Day and Tristan and Trish came over for brunch which was lovely. The day was all sunshine and bright light. We were able to sit on the patio enjoying croissants, salami, ham, different cheeses and strawberry jam along with fresh fruit juice, tea and coffee.
Mid-afternoon, and armed with gorgeous Bar One Cupcakes baked by Not Bread Alone, we headed out to Greenstone, for tea with our friends, Natascha, her daughter Taryn and her adorable 2 little girls, Riley and Ella. We have not seen them for far too many years and the family suffered a tragedy at the end of December so it was imperative for us to see them and spend some time with them. The little girls loved the bubbles we took them and both got some time on my lap; apparently Riley is reserved and does not go to anyone easily but she was very friendly with me. We had a super long visit with them and long after the sun had set, we finally headed home. The last day of the long weekend started off at a leisurely pace and the afternoon was spent at my former boss's home; we had been invited to Donald and Carol's house to walk the labyrinth (which Tristan and his team at If Only Landscaping had designed and built) and have tea. We enjoyed walking the labyrinth and had a lively chatting time over tea, red wine, water and delicious chocolate cake, cheese savoury muffins, ginger and cherry squares. Their son, Cameron, arrived and I was thrilled when he told me that he loved the labyrinth. This time we left as the sun was setting to head home and, in case anyone reading this is wondering, no word of work was spoken.
The labryinth
Another view of the labyrinth with white azaleas to the left
This is a photo of the labyrinth at The Edge in Hogsback (one of my ultimate favourite places in the world). "You are welcome to experience walking the Labyrinth at The Edge which is an eleven-circuit Labyrinth, similar in design to the Labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral in France. It is one of the most intricate Labyrinth designs, and has a diameter of 29 meters and a circumference of 91 meters. The length of the pathway is 700 meters, and the total distance of the walk to the center and out is 1.4 kilometres, making it one of the largest Labyrinths in the world! It was completed in 2002."
Two different labyrinths equally beautiful and special.
Where I have been:
Mugg & Bean, Ferndale on Republic
Cowboy Town : https://www.facebook.com/p/Cowboy-Town-100051291254986/
7 Sins - https://7sins.co.za/
DC Coffee - https://www.dccoffee.co
The Secret Garden - https://www.thesecretteagarden.co.za/
Doppio Zero Sandton City - https://doppio.co.za/restaurant/sandton-city/
Mia Bongartz - Body Talk practitioner - https://bodytalksystem.co.za/members/mia-bongartz/
Big F Car Wash - https://visita.co.za/directory/big-f-car-wash/
Silver Birch - https://www.thesilverbirch.co.za/
Not Bread Alone Bakery - https://www.facebook.com/NotBreadAlone/
Streateatery - https://www.streatery.co.za/
What have I been listening to?
Podcasts:
Betrayal Season 3
Dark Down East
Something was Wrong
The Conspiracy Tapes
The Daily
The Damage Report
The Rise and Fall of Ruby Franke
To Die For
White Devil
Audible:
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
What have I been reading? What am I reading?
"Mrs Hemingway" by Naomi Wood
What have I been watching?
My usual bubblegum shows so I can decompress and not think; and just be entertained
Ciao House (filmed in Puglia, Italy)
Netflix
Baby Reindeer
Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery
Under the Amalfi Sun
Breathtaking
The Fall. Skydive Murder Plot (British 3 part series about how a South African man in the UK attempted to kill his wife)
A reminder that if you have not already please consider subscribing to my blog and to like the page on Facebook for my blog, "Stuff my Mom Never taught me" (Facebook didn't like "Sh*t") and if you are subscribed, please check your spam/junk mail folder in your e-mail:
With love, light and blessings - adieu et a bien tot!
Barbara
