Just because I don’t live there doesn’t mean these past few weeks haven’t been extremely stressful! I’m tired of people asking me what the hell is going on in the States? Asking how can that awful person be President? And what is wrong with Americans? And I’ve been ashamed of admitting to being an American, even though I’ve detested the man and certainly never voted for him.

But as I write this, his end (or at least his White House tenure) is drawing to a close, even though the final count hasn’t been called. And I feel that maybe I can breathe again, because the thought of 4 more years of the jackass was making me ill.

I DO NOT envy Joe Biden’s task ahead to reunite the fractured country.

And all that on top of the surging pandemic there. Makes me glad to be here in South Africa, at least a bit removed from all the angst swirling around the States. Even though this country has huge problems as well, which it may or may not get sorted out, depending on who you talk to.

So on that note…

Gracious home on the Berea overlooking Durban

Summer is here, heralded by raging thunder and lightning storms producing torrential downpours that blow through, leaving the earth wet and steaming and the air soft on my skin. These are all things that remind me of my childhood here. And the early mornings when all the birds are chattering and calling, I sit outside with my coffee enjoying the quiet before the real world really comes awake and rudely intrudes into my life.

A promise I made to myself at the beginning of the year, before lockdown (BL), was to have an “adventure” a week. Of course, when the lockdown came, one of the most draconian in the world, that plan went out the window! But now, with level one and even before in level two, I’ve been able to pick up on my promise to myself. And just having that “goal” really makes a difference. It doesn’t matter if the “adventure” is just a walk at the beach, just getting out and doing something out of the ordinary, makes a huge difference in my life. And with level one, more opportunities have opened up.

So the last two weeks adventures have been fun. One was a walk in Durban in an area called the Berea. It’s the early urban area of the city and populated with some lovely, old “gracious” homes. We (my friend Susy and I) did the walk with Durban Walking Tours. Alison, who runs them, is we think, a former real estate agent, so she has all the history etc. of the homes and area. This has always been a “good” area, even when I was growing up, but we took it all for granted back then, not really taking any notice of the architecture and history surrounding the place.

It was a really hot day and we walked close to 7k, up and down and around the hilly area. One of the things I love about this whole area is the vegetation. The trees are old and enormous; vines and orchids are prolific festooning the trunks and branches. It’s so lush and tropical and it feels like just about anything you want to plant will grow. And it’s jacaranda time and they are spectacular.

The second “adventure” was more interesting to me that Susy, once again my fellow adventurer. Kearsney Manor is an historic mansion set out in the sugar cane fields on the north coast and is the home of the first Kearsney College, the school both my brothers went to. But when the boys attended, the school had moved to Bothas Hill, but it was interesting to hear the history. It’s a lovely old 18-bedroom home with spectacular floors, both tiled and wood, high ceilings and lots of stained glass windows. Unfortunately, all the wrought iron decorative railings have been removed, giving it a rather stark look and feel.

We visited the chapel and cemetery on the grounds where the original Hulett, who developed the land, was buried.

Once again it was very hot (after all, it is summer) but I’m realizing that my adventures in the next few months will have to be indoors as I’m not handling the heat very well.

Adventures show up unexpectedly, too. On our way out of the mansion (we found our way there easily, with Lucy, my GPS doing a great job) Lucy lost the plot! She sent us off on wild goose chases through some areas of “the other South Africa,” which was interesting, to say the least. I think maybe Google hasn’t mapped the area very well - or something. After driving around in some pretty sketchy areas, we found our way back to the freeway! With my sense of direction totally screwed up by now, I took the wrong ramp and ended up doing a very fast U-turn on an empty highway to get us going in the right direction!

But we made it down to the beach at Ballito, met up with Maureen, Susy’s friend who has a flat right on the beachfront with the most spectacular view. We went for a walk on the almost deserted beach, always an adventure on its own, before heading home.

Ballito