UNDER THE GREY SOUTH AFRICAN SUN!

A bit of a contradiction in terms, né!

Let me explain the context under which I arrived at that titular epiphany. And no, it is all above the waistline, sunshine! There are no tjêrries in this Bangkok!

The individual factors relate, firstly, to the fact that an old Matric mate of mine passed away yesterday. We had last met at our 40th reunion of our matriculation, not the 40th reunion as such. It was sad from the point of view that we, as a cohort, are entering that phase of our lives. Yet, the comforting thought is that, as one gets older, the thought of shuffling off the old mortal coil becomes less of a threat and more of an accepted inevitability.

This may sound a bit blasé, but it has to be so. I recall my late Mother (Margaret Ann Dolley neé Savona) sitting upright in her hospital bed with the blotchy skin of age and ill-health, looking at us and saying: I am ready to go! I think it was the same evening which the attending Nursing Angel asked me if I am her husband. She had classified me, as far back as then, as in the waiting lounge of my life!

Then, considering the fact that we had been on an upper after a good visit to Seweweekspoort, I woke up this morning to warm, yet grey skies and weather. You know how it is: bright sunshine makes you want/need to arise and shine. But the dull sky inhibited my serotonin (or melatonin) release (you choose your poison)! My limbic system was in a bit of a quandary as to what to do!

And, in the background, upon waking, I heard the dulcet sounds of a movie. This refers to the very soft soundtrack of  Under The Tuscan Sun, one which Bev had been dying to watch again. Based on the nature of the storyline, the volume of the narrative and music was consistently peaceful.

I joined, and the overall effect it had on me was to add to greyness of the day. But this did not last long as the story lightened and the caffeine started perking me up.

Now, the day is beautiful. The initial frenzy of feeding two cats who live here, and two who board here, was overtaken by an omelette-induced soporofism.

I would suspect that dunking the old hoo-haa in the pool later will be the order of the day. I will conduct a pool pit reading to the masses (usually two said cats). Life is good.

Amen, bro’s and sis’s!!

Note: the “old hoo-haa” does not refer to a person!