Or so the headlines told us, just in case we failed to notice downed trees and mud-slick roads we slithered and bumped down with everything and not quite the kitchen sink that should have been packed and wasn't... Freer chaos reigns. Oh and the wet stuff. I see they're now forecasting the possibility of snow (yes, I'll post some to Adelaide if you like - it's like dandruff but colder). Anyway, that terrible phase of the move is over. So far saying goodbye to our beasties was the worst part, but teary farewells from 'nThombifuthi (we have found her a new job, with someone she likes, but still...) and Mfanjane (who has a disability pension, but used to come and earn a bit extra once a week), and the forlorn faces of our now ex-neighbour's workers (whose kids we took to school, gave lifts into town, brought 80kg sacks of maize-meal for and and occasionally provided first aid to, and greeted and chatted to), and "you did so much for us" - as one of the dairy guys told B yesterday. True enough I think. We tried to fit in, and make ourselves part of the community, not just a separate caste. It seemed to work (ex-neighbour on the other hand is I gather is having 'labour' troubles. What a surprise - there is little love lost there. Perhaps he should wise up to living in 2009, and not 1809 - his latest petty act of improving staff morale was to lock a gate leading to their cottages - meaning everything (eg, their 80kg of maize-meal, and a fair amount of furniture we didn't pack) has to be carried half a kilometer. It won't stop the people carrying the same things in. Or improve his security an iota. But it'll show them he's the boss. Yes, that'll help. Not.) Ah well, I am glad to leave that kind of idiocy behind, because I only see one long term end for it and it will do no one any good.
The packing up was something of a disaster -partly because we were less organised than we needed to be, and partly because the rain and the packers and estimators and mis-information added a whole new layer of chaos... like we arrived here with 4 loads of wet washing - all of which should have been packed. And wine racks (the plastic -no wood-bugs kind we had in among the others we had to leave) and other things which didn't need to go that did... before we turned around. Oh well, 'tis done. Unpacking may be a bit like archeology ;-) (besides the rock part)
Anyway, we've arrived in Durban, with my sister for a few days, I'll get some writing done, and we'll finalise a few more things. Her little sausage dogs are somewhere between cats and dogs, and remind me how much I miss my dogs and cats. I hope the big black nose can keep the faith.
I miss them.
...I'll post some to Adelaide if you like...
ReplyDeleteHah! I'm not that gullible! Snow! Imagine anyone believing that water could actually freeze naturally! And fall from the sky in flakes! Are you sure it wasn't just really really small hailstones? I wasn't born yesterday young man!
<grin>
[At the moment we do have water falling from the sky, so life is slightly better. But having mid-Summer temperatures in late Spring has definitely shocked a few people. (Although not enough to do much about undergrowth. It's going to be a very interesting Summer, bushfire wise. Again.)]
As to security, panic and fear can provoke the strangest and most nonsensical reactions. Very self-defeating. Much better to remove the disinction of "not-us."
How long do you have to prepare your new home for the furkids?
About 5 months :-(.
ReplyDelete<hugs> It will pass quickly enough, especially with all the stuff you'll have to do.
ReplyDeleteAnd it has the advantage that you should actually be settled in a more or less permanent home by then, so you won't have to uproot them again after you get them back.
I'll be ON Flinders Island for a very short time - day at the most - before the end of November. It's part of a musical cruise down the East Coast from Sydney to Hobart which stops off a several places on the way. There seems to be a concert at most of the stops, usually also including some sight-seeing.
ReplyDeleteSo, tho' I'm not likely to see you & yours, I'll have a good image of where you'll be when you write about it. I hope you get a warm welcome & that settling in & continuing on all work well.
Oz has fallen away from, rather than continued, the progress we were making towards combining the best of both worlds & moving on to positive reactions to the challenges of the 21st century. Getting back on track is a least as hard as walking a muddy track uphill against the wind, since so many with power & influence seem to prefer a mix of 1848 & 1984.
Mez, drop us a comment to let us know what you thought of the place and the people.(um, don't mention the two heads ;-))
ReplyDelete