Beginning of this New Year

For me this time, just after the holidays is like a hiatus, a time of  blank diary pages and silent telephones. Everyone has left Cape Town or so it seems to me. In fact to judge by the roads, everyone has come to Cape Town from  all over the country. But this influx of visitors only means that I stay at home rather than driving anywhere, because driving is so stressful. The other day we traveled to Fish Hoek so slowly that we were overtaken by a man walking next to a toddler on a tricycle.

During this very peaceful period, before the world wakes up and gets back to work again, I should be getting down to work myself and doing some serious writing. I have been somewhat discouraged lately, because I have not been very successful in getting work published, but I have just read a very inspiring article written by a writer with a similar problem. She complained to a more successful friend who gave the following advice. "Don't aim to get your work accepted. Aim to get 100 rejection slips" You  have to work very hard to do this, but you have a very good chance of succeeding and you also have definitely increased your chances of getting an acceptance.

Writers, particularly poets, should remember that we are not in this game for the money. No one makes a living out of writing verse. Neither are we in it for the glory and fame. I know dozens of poets living nearby, talented, gifted poets, but none of my other friends have heard of them.
So why do we write stories and compose poems? We write, just because we love to write.

New Year

I see on Face Book my memory for today is the losing of my blog. (that happened a long time ago)  When I saw this post it  reminded  me that I had not posted anything in my blog this year. I had not been inspired to write anything, an indication that I was feeling low and  did not think  anything worth writing about'

The year started rather sadly, with my daughter Eleanor  and her husband Andreas leaving for Namibia and Luke going back to George, with some problems too. Amanda and Carlyle had already left, Danielle was back at work and,of course,very busy. Nothing much was happening here to distract me .Here is a gloomy poem about it.

JANUARY

After the flush of holidays the tide  recedes

 leaving the  beach exposed and litter-strewn,

bleached  grey under a smoke-stained sky.

I walk alone beside the shallow waves

 barefoot through rough and gritty sand

 dragging behind  me memories

and thoughts of joyful days.

The New Year splashes icy over  me,

its taste metallic, bitter on my tongue.

But now things are improving. Evergreen Choir practices have started up again. The first U3A meeting was most entertaining and enlightening(more about this later) and My old friend Pinkie(Elizabeth) Hulbert has come to stay nearby in the St James Hotel. She actually stayed a few days with me first because her luggage and  furniture hadn't arrived, It only got  to Cape Town three days after she did. 

The worst thing about the new year has been the fires. They have been particularly widespread this year. The dry weather and the strong winds have made ideal conditions for \veld fires. Smoke from fires as far away as Paarl reaches us here. Everybody is sure they e been deliberately set, but the culprits are never found. If only a band of dedicated fire-spotters like the shark-spotters could be employed. I'm sure it would actually save money. After the towers used for spotting fires in the plantations round George were abandoned, fires were much more frequent and a lot of timber was lost. 

Old Age Revisited

The talk at the last U3a meeting was most entertaining. Rayne Stroebel, from an organisation called Eden Alternative(SA) told us about aging and how to prevent it, (or rather how to slow it down.) His contention is that it is the perception of old age rather than the actual condition that causes most of the problems.  I thought his presentation excellent, but a bit over the top. I mean that certain aspects seemed to me to be exaggerated.  For instance I can't believe that life expectancy has increased as much as he claims. People in the first world may be living longer, but I don't think many of us are going to be living to 130 whatever certain statistics may say.
These points, however, were worth considering:-
a)There is no need for the rapid deterioration often seen when someone goes into an old age home.
b)When one is treated as old and incompetent one begins to believe this assessment of oneself and acts accordingly. c)There are certain factors that cause more rapid decline.
Triggers of rapid decline  are:
1.Falls. After a fall very many old people become much less mobile or even bed ridden. He also says that it is not only a fall itself but the fear of falling.that causes over-cautiousness and reluctance to try anything.  Exercises to improve balance and strength can certainly help here.  I always say there is a difference between falling and "having a fall" People at Evergreen "have a fall" and are never the same again. I fell by the dam at Silvermine a few weeks ago when the dog pulled me over and I only had a few scratches to show for it. Is this because I fall differently? I don't know, but I do know that I don't usually hurt myself when I trip and fall, but many people break bones when this happens.
2, Incontinence. There can be a number of reasons for this but people are often too embarrassed to talk about it or ask for medical help. It can lead to people not wanting to go out and can also lead to bladder infections and some of these infections can have  symptoms  that can lead to an incorrect diagnosis of dementia. (something that I was quite unaware of)
3. Over medication. All medicines have side effects and when several are taken every day there are bound to be unwanted effects. Often old people have been prescribed so many different drugs that they are in a half-dazed state most of the time. Medicines should be periodically checked and monitored
4., Being with negatively motivated people. A positive attitude is very important. Being surrounded by poeple who have a negative attitude can hasten the aging process.
5. Anxiety. Anxiety about health, finances, physical security can all contribute to premature aging.

I think this will be the last post in 2016.  there have been so many negative comments about this year.  It seems to have  been a very unpopular 12 months. For me, though it has been great. Except for becoming very sick and being carted off to hospital early on in the year.(just after Easter) it has been particularly full of happy events.

First, Brent and Trish came to visit. They stayed in the Evergreen visitors flat ( now no longer available) which was ideal. We had a very happy two weeks together. Then Danielle and I brought out my third book of poems. I am particularly proud of the cover design which features Danielle's thread art. In August Stephanie, Jane and I went to McGregor for the poetry festival. That was a very good weekend. Steph and I were quite successful with our combined presentation. We had the most appreciative audience we could have wished for.  Soon after that thee was my trip to Hogsback. Then the most exciting thing to have happened. The acquiring of a new Grandchild,. Dorothy's younger daughter, Amanda got in touch with us.after all these years. Luke was the one contacted first. I never expected this to happen. First we sent messages and e-mails  and then we had the joy of meeting her and spending Christmas together.  Eleanor and Andreas were here for Christmas too. What a very happy time!

Eleanor expressed what I  think we all experienced. She said that meeting Amanda was not like meeting someone new. It felt as though we had known her always. It was a pity that she and her partner, Carlyle couldn't stay longer, but I am sure they will come here again. I am glad that Amanda and Danielle, the two granddaughters who are much of an age are such good friends.

RAIN AT CHRISTMAS TIME

After the drought when

the edges of leaves on the sage bush

start to curl, the daisies die

my lawn  turns  to dust and straw

and everything is dry and grey,

all unexpected there comes

the blissful rain,

splashing the windscreen

filling the dogs’ bowls

washing the  potted pelargoniums,

and we collect in a small crowded studio

come together today, damp and laughing from

across the town, across the country

and across the world

Those in Authority

I was reminded in church today, that we are asked to pray for those in authority and also of a text in Paul's letter to the Romans in which we are told to obey those in authority because they have been placed there by God. If this is what we are told to do, I suppose we must do so, however much we may question God's reasoning and think that He has made a number of awful mistakes. It is hard to know how to pray. I would love to tell the Lord exactly what to do with those who are at present running our country. Without wishing anybody actual harm, it would be nice if most of  them would just quietly disappear. but it is obvious that I should not pray even for something as mild as that. I shall pray, however, with a clear conscience, for malice, greed and corruption in high places to come to an end.

HOGSBACK

These pictures were taken on the Hogsback Tour Iwent on recently

Decolonization

Among   red-brick ruins

Walking on the mountain, we  start to follow

a narrow path between  the  bushes

A ragged vagrant comes towards us  from behind a rock,

holds out a hopeful  hand

“I used to stay here,” he says. ”My friends and I .

Once there was a zoo here on this mountain slope

A zoo and a University.

Girls in short skirts, bright tops and scarves, boys in Tshirts and jeans

 would walk between the cages of jackals, porcupines and monkeys

A lonely mangy lion lived here  behind a  fenc e of stakes

A hollow block of stained  cement  made him a sort of-den

He sometimes used to give out strangled roars

to scare us  students  working late at night

This  space here was  the wildebeest and zebra paddock and

this tangled ivy  covered  stone  of lecture halls

Those rusted iron boilers and that broken chimney –pipe

are all that’s left of what used, long ago,  to be  

the  faculty of engineering .

We always sat here on these steps. reading and chatting

We sat here between classes.  and after seminars

Then later we all just sat here

Waiting, waiting,

It was the lion that left first and then the zebras and the monkeys.

I saw my friends off at the airport.

 others caught the Greyhound.

I was left behind.

PROTEST

They are so young, so brave, so beautiful

Facing shields and bullets with their stones

and their buckets of poo.

shouting  incomprehensible,t courageous words

as they break barriers ,beat  down towers,

force   gates to open up for  every  -one. l.

But when they get inside the walls they’ll  find

the halls of learning have dissolved,  

They’ve turned to mist and floated off into the cloud.

While the pale conquerors they so despise

have been invaded in their turn, been colonised

by dark hordes from the Middle East and Africa