The Journey Inward

I think I’ve mentioned how bad the roads are here in terms of potholes. The worst strip is one of the two roads I take from my house to my grocery shopping center. It’s awful! HUGE potholes, one right after another. People use the whole road to get by because you’re shifting lanes to avoid. The delivery guys on motorbikes seems to be the only ones who can slalom through with ease.

Anyway, when I was out walking the road the other night, I noticed someone had filled the holes in with dirt, which happens from time to time. And that’s great until the next rain, which is almost daily in rainy season.

Well, today I was driving to the grocery store (Woolworth’s, as I think I’ve mentioned, with no relation or correlation to the US Woolworth’s of our youth), and a guy in a neon vest was standing near the potholes shaking a can. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but I didn’t stop or contribute. It turns out that some of the more innovative guys will fill the holes and stand there and ask for money. That is something I’d donate to!!!

The next item is that Jan was asking about that bad hail storm we had a week ago Friday that I took the videos of. (That storm actually knocked out electricity in some of the estates around me for over a week!). She asked if they were worse than back home. They’re not, but still somehow different, though other than the speed at which they come on, I wasn’t able to put my finger on. When I was at the gym walking on the roof track and saw a huge bolt of crooked lightning go from sky to land (and yes, I went right in), it occurred to me that what feels different here is just how exposed we are. Just not a lot of tall buildings and trees to speak of. You just feel more exposed, I guess. And which is also why so many people and houses get struck by lightning here.

If you’re following world news, you might have heard about the terrible flooding in South Africa. By all accounts, this has been an unusual summer because the number of very hot days have been few and the number of rainy afternoons has been many. That has produced some terrible flooding in the country and Kruger National Park has been hit terribly hard. People staying at the park have had to be rescued by heli (what they’re called here) and at last look, 20 have died. The animals are apparently okay, but it has been devastating in my province and the ones north of me.

Okay, hoping to do a quick post about yesterday’s Nature Reserve Day before getting ready for tomorrow.