I actually grew up in the Midlands area, so it feels really good to be back in my old playground. My Dad played SA Country Districts cricket, which meant I got to explore these country districts every summer weekend, alone or with my little friends. I’d disappear for hours and only pop back for egg mayo sarmis at lunchtime and pie and gravy at suppertime. My parents seemed fine with that. It was a good life for a little kid.
I was born in Kokstad. The town that just put me through a nightmare and left me with psychological camping scars for life. I think it remembered me and said “Hell no! We thought you left. You have to go.” I wasn’t happy btw to be born anywhere, let alone in Kokstad. Apparently on Earthday no.1, I started crying and didn’t stop for 2 weeks. I’m used to being here now though. During the days of shifting Apartheid borders it was very difficult to know exactly where I was born, because Kokstad sits close to the KZN, Eastern Cape, Lesotho and Transkei borders, so when the lines needed to be redrawn, Kokstad would shift to another province or be shifted out of South Africa entirely. I never really knew how to fill in forms which asked where I was born. Town? Yes, easy one. Kokstad. Province? Right now, I’m just not sure. Born in South Africa? Right now, I’m just not sure. Even now, Kokstad sits in KZN, between the Eastern Cape and a weird stand-alone piece of Eastern Cape territory. The bad news for Kokstad is that the area is so beautiful that I will definitely be back. With my posse next time though.
Today is the 11th anniversary of my Dad’s passing. I’m glad I’m here today where he grew up and spent most of his life, even though I’m feeling sad that he’s not here with me. I do hear an owl outside at night though, so perhaps he’s here in spirit. My Dad was a truly wise person. He was very connected to the earth, having grown up on a farm, and would spend hours just staring at the nature before him, in deep contemplation. Much like I find myself doing as this trip goes on. I would like to believe that I inherited some of his wisdoms, but I know that’s not true. What I do think he managed to do though, was to give me a kind of wisdom toolset, with an instruction manual in my DNA, which gives me a chance of gaining wisdoms if I choose to. I sometimes think the manual is written in Taiwanese or Chinese, because there are many times where I just don’t get it, and everything just falls apart. It should come with pictures. Maybe it does? Maybe that’s what nature is?
I do know I’m doing something right in the wisdom space when I look at the friends that I have in my life. I get so many insights and wise ways of looking at life from what they say and do. They add to my life a richness and texture that helps me to see further and feel deeper, grow stronger and explore further than I could have thought possible. So, I like to think I’m putting Dad’s toolset to good use.
He wasn’t just wise though. He was fun and funny. He would sing the aeroplane song to my sister and I as little ones, whenever we went on a roadtrip, and I remember us squealing with laughter every time.
The aeroplane song goes like this:
Dad would sing “There’s an aeroplane in the sky
We would shout “Yay
Dad would sing “But it’s engine is broken
We would go “Aaaaah
Dad would sing “But the pilot has a parachute
We would shout “Yay!”
Dad would sing “But the parachute won’t open”
We would go “Aaaaah”
Dad would sing “But he’s landed in a haystack”
We would shout “Yay!”
Dad would sing “But the haystack has a fork in it”
We would go “Aaaaah
….And so it would go on and on, with us just laughing and laughing. We were very little!
But even that song has a wisdom to it, because life is filled with ups and downs and somehow we find ways to navigate the tough times. For me it’s a reminder to appreciate and say “Yay!” when times are good, but that it’s also ok to feel sorry for ourselves and say “Aaah” when they are not. It’s a cycle which always brings us back to now. I was blessed to have 44 years of those hidden wisdoms. He was the one reading the Berenstein Bears to me, remember. I laughed a lot at those stories as well.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the fun I had today, splashing around in my own version of “mud that makes me happy”. For now though, I’m off to see if I can chat to my owl.