It snows on the Swartberg range most winters! In Africa, until now I have only seen it from a distance, and once on Table Mountain. I traded my sunrise walk with an early departure from home up the Swartberg Pass this morning and am I glad I did:) Only about 10kms from my front door, I rounded a corner and there it was – a gentle sprinkling on the Bain’s built wall of the steep and winding road…for an African born in tropics, this is a special sight, unusual, unexpected and such a joy! By the time I got to the Tierberg lay-by, there was even more!
I can’t believe 3 weeks have magically evolved into what is my new life…. I have been asked if I’m settled yet, no settling needed, I feel like I belong here, no drama, no trauma, no adjusting, no feeling uncomfortable, no effort, no frustration……I just fit! Round peg round hole. I’ve been thinking about what I love the most….
Prince Albert waking!
My new old home Fixing, cleaning, arranging Gardening in my big wild ‘desert-like’ garden My front stoep and my back stoep A quick walk from my home into the veld Dirt roads, windmills and abandoned buildings all around me Space Quiet Slowness Simplicity Having 2 sinks in the kitchen! Feeling safe Walking everywhere I need to go if I want The raw milk dairy Lamb chops and game meat Local produce Smiling, friendly, helpful people Real people at the end of the commercial phone line Old fashioned efficiency A sense of calm and contentment Time to learn about me.
A lovely starting point for my morning walks :)
My days start with a dawn outing every day. A walk/run usually involving the Robert Gordon Trail. About 3 or 4 kms. I explore different starting points and routes and experience the waking village from above.
Sunrise with the dairy in the valley and the Swartberg range on the right
I’ve learned to dress for the crisp mornings, I am now a beanie person! On two occasions I have seen a pair of Grey Rhebok, white tails distinctive as they sprinted away from me on the ridge. A pair of large owls cooing to each other and many yet unknown birds greeting the day. That freshly brewed coffee on the front stoep when I return is just the best, followed by chores, good chores…. hanging pictures, erecting shelves, cleaning, collecting my post, gardening, feeding the birds, cooking lunch, and enjoying it slowly in the sun on the back stoep……emails and internet at still 2mbps! OMG, who even offered that speed…. This is the only frustrating thing…. and it is not really that frustrating…….I just need to adjust my mindset a little more….I am in no rush!
I have met quite a few locals and my neighbours, all of whom are genuinely nice. I have handed in some of my art to the local gallery, joined the library and made friends with some people who work at the Dairy.
Anytime I want I can ‘escape’ and drive into the Swartberg Pass, play in the river, photograph, explore, walk in the veld, and examine strange and interesting plants and stones, chase sunsets, cycle in the late afternoon, read, or watch a downloaded movie – then I am asleep in my incredibly inviting bed for the next 8 or 9 hours. That’s my new life:) It’s called living:)
Finding water in the Karoo is such a joy:)
On my bike going somewhere slowly;)
Oh and one BIG negative … a big (they are all big, ugly and creepy by my standards) unlucky spider (I am a serious arachnophobe!! ) nearly (within millimetres!! ) fell on my head . OMG! when I opened the back door!! He plopped onto the floor and died instantly under the sole of my hastily removed shoe. His carcass, (spread out on the tiles over 30 cms, such was the force of the blow) remained there for a few hours until I got up the courage to remove it and I was left unsettled for the whole rest of the day!!!! I have not opened any door normally since. It is going to happen again (and when it does you will hear about it) but until I will remain hyper vigilant! (paranoid)
A last-minute change of schedule by the moving company forced me to leave the city a night ahead of schedule. I arrived at my new home at 8pm in the dark! What that did, was disallow me 24 hours in which to stay in my empty apartment and mull and contemplate leaving the city and my home of the last 18 years. I was gone before I knew it! It was a good thing.
I made my way into the empty house, found the mains switch unpacked my few belongings, ‘camped’ in the spare room – and surprisingly, slept very well. These weeks running up to my departure date have been a bit hectic!
With nothing to do in the morning, I left before sunrise up to the walking trail behind my home to watch the new day dawn on my new town and my new life:) It was beautiful!
There is one early morning coffee shop in the village, and I was greeted there with an excellent coffee and a roaring fire in the hearth on a very chilly morning:) It is winter here. I chatted to the waitress and later another customer who comes from 80 kms away so her young daughter can go to playschool twice a week! I walked home and shortly after arriving, the entire contents of my life arrived in a large moving truck and trailer…. And so, the fun began! In the last month or two, I have done not much else besides pack boxes and boxes and more boxes! And now I am doing not much else besides unpacking boxes and boxes and boxes. So much cardboard and plastic…. But all going to recycling on Friday:)
David, my ‘inherited’ gardener has been, the honeysucker has been (sucks out the sewerage from a septic tank!) The gas man has connected my new gas stove and I have been to the one supermarket to buy some supplies. No traffic, free parking right outside the places I need to go. Friendly smiling faces. Children walking home from school, and a general feeling of calm and happiness:)
I have not cleaned so much ever before….
I am settling in well, going slowly and enjoying every minute. Each morning I am out at dawn and greet the sunrise – walking or cycling in a quiet, still, barren, beautiful landscape feeling happy and safe:) I am going to love it here:)
I don’t like any of the definitions of retirement… And these days there seem to be many. Being in my mid-sixties it feels like I can use the word, but the definition is my own…….my retirement will be defined by – not being constrained to earning an income in a formal setting – no rent to pay, limited overheads, no defined hours, no one else’s expectations to conform, no need to be politically correct or to follow the dictates of the industry. Not to be constrained by the bureaucracy, tax and time-consuming practices of owning and managing a small (micro) business – I look forward to learning, creating and hopefully selling my own artwork from a new studio that I have always longed for.
I want to learn, work, and play with a balance between the physical, the mental, the thoughtful and the impulsive, full days and contemplating days, trusted ways, and new discoveries. Doing what I feel compelled to do on my terms:)
I started this journey today, by picking up one of my many unfinished art pieces – I am incredibly happy with what I achieved today.
It is a panoramic landscape, representative of what is soon to be my unique environment, a monochromatic barren, but spectacular place! A dirt road running through it – which represents leaving one life and traveling to a new one. The light bright on mountain peaks, that I am most pleased with, could be a sun setting or rising, representative of ‘from and to’ or ‘to and from’ :) New direction. New place. New Life
Chapter Six 
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