Sometimes it feels as if I am living in a parallel universe. I know this sounds a bit weird, but living two completely different lives is itself a bit odd!

My school friend, Susy who lives in Italy, and I have discussed this at some length and we both have similar feelings about trying to make a decision on where to call home. Both of us have full lives in the other country and have equally full lives here. But the lives we live in our alternate reality places are so totally different in a lot of ways. So making a decision is very difficult.

It almost feels as if it would be easier if I didn’t have strong connections in both places. Now I feel like my internal thinking is like a tug-of-war. Somedays California is so strong I want to get on a plane and fly away immediately. Other days, South Africa’s seductive ways would have me rooted here forever.

Although my life in California, when I left, wasn’t very stable or rewarding and some called it inappropriate, my friends and family made up for the instability. Here, with my own place and some interesting work, I am more stable, and I do have friends and family, who I really appreciate, no doubt about that, but I don’t feel the closeness that continuous years of close proximity bring.

On the outside looking in, I have an interesting life, as I am getting involved in projects that interest me. And although they don’t necessarily add much to the coffers, they definitely help my state of mind.

So as you can tell, I’m still very much up in the air about what to do. Optimally, I would spend 6 months each place, each year. But I think I would have to win the lottery to be able to do that. (Of course, first I have to buy the ticket!) Then there are also the dauntingly long flights between the two places and I am looking at flight routes that I could take and break the 30 hour trip with a decent 3-4 day layover somewhere - that won’t break the bank.

What I’ve Been Up Too

Quite a lot, actually!

When the coronavirus outbreak began at the end of January, no one had any idea how it would impact the rest of the world, let alone a tiny company like ours! But the underwear site has slowed way down, to almost a standstill, due to the outbreak, as our products can’t get out of China, with airlines not flying anywhere near there. So I have more time to do a lot of other things, which is nice, but doesn’t do much for the bank.

Susy and I went for walk in Umhlanga, where the beach stretches for miles. And with it being a weekday and holidays over, there were very few people on the beach. She doesn’t have a car here, so I do the driving, which is fine as I enjoy getting out and about. We had coffee at a ritzy place with lousy service and later at a sidewalk cafe I had been to years ago with Mick and Debbie.

Nothing much has changed there except for more high-rises and it’s still the high rent area!

I attended an art opening at the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust where I am doing some volunteer work. I had written the press release for the opening and they had a great turnout. There is an opportunity for continued involvement there and yesterday, I was there for the making of 7,500 origami cats! Yes, that number is correct! The Centre was contracted to create them, so a couple of dozen women and a few men, spent the day folding cats!

Paula, who is the leading light in the Woza Moya group who do the crafts, is quite amazing, keeping her cool as she went from table to table helping and demonstrating how to fold these kitties correctly! Young and old all pitched in to make it happen.

So that’s something I’ll be writing about plus a couple of other projects we haven’t nailed down yet.

And…I went to a wonderful distillery out in the sugar cane fields in Richmond. The young couple, Brad and Marisa have a great story to tell, and of course I love rum, especially the rhum agricole style Sugar Baron produces. Essentially, French Caribbean-style rum from sugar cane juice, not molasses.

In this heat we are experiencing, a chilly Sugar Baron Rum drink is wonderfully refreshing in the evening, sitting with my feet in the pool, attempting to cool off!

Today, thank goodness, it’s a lot cooler. In the past, the heat hasn’t bothered me and I have always wanted to live a perpetual summer. But even for me, the heat was almost unbearable and as the majority of homes don’t have air conditioning (except new ones all come equipped), fans work overtime. But then load shedding happens…and that’s another story.