It's one of those indeterminate days as far as the weather goes: sunny and warm one moment, and then a shower sweeps over and all is wet and shiny for a while. Lekker weather, as we South Africans say.
This is, I suppose, where a few words of explanation are needed. I was born in South Africa and lived there until 2000, when I left to go to the Azores. Since then I have lived in Japan and in Australia since 2002, with two short periods back in SA. I'm now an Australian citizen, and happy to be one, but my South African heritage is very important to me, so I have kept my accent and my tendency to lapse into Afrikaans when I get really aggravated! I consider myself a citizen of the world, so not for me the bunkum that one country is better than another. South Africa is a beautiful, if troubled country; Australia is also beautiful (and very similar in many ways) and I left my soul in the Azores, which is where I would love to end my days. All countries have scenery that can take your breath away, all countries have amazing people (and idiots!), all countries are good at some things and not so good at others -- and that is what makes the world such a wonderful place!
Anyway, back to today and the lekker weather. It's a day for sitting by the window and reading a good book, which is exactly what I am going to do after posting this. At the moment I'm reading Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles, a super read and one I heartily recommend.
Luckily the locals (my partner Elle and I jokingly call the part of Sydney in which we live Boganville) are quiet today, so I will not have my reading disturbed by Mr Congeniality across the road calling his children "f*7@ing wankers" so loudly that everyone on the block can hear him! Mrs Congeniality did, however, earlier have a phone conversation (on which I could only avoid eavesdropping by going utterly deaf) with someone who must have really gotten her goat, judging by the free use of the F-word and the even more pronounced whining lilt in her voice. Ja-well, no fine, broe! If only these people had been taught a wider range of expletives! But education and upbringing are alien concepts in Boganville, I'm sad to say...
This is, I suppose, where a few words of explanation are needed. I was born in South Africa and lived there until 2000, when I left to go to the Azores. Since then I have lived in Japan and in Australia since 2002, with two short periods back in SA. I'm now an Australian citizen, and happy to be one, but my South African heritage is very important to me, so I have kept my accent and my tendency to lapse into Afrikaans when I get really aggravated! I consider myself a citizen of the world, so not for me the bunkum that one country is better than another. South Africa is a beautiful, if troubled country; Australia is also beautiful (and very similar in many ways) and I left my soul in the Azores, which is where I would love to end my days. All countries have scenery that can take your breath away, all countries have amazing people (and idiots!), all countries are good at some things and not so good at others -- and that is what makes the world such a wonderful place!
Anyway, back to today and the lekker weather. It's a day for sitting by the window and reading a good book, which is exactly what I am going to do after posting this. At the moment I'm reading Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles, a super read and one I heartily recommend.
Luckily the locals (my partner Elle and I jokingly call the part of Sydney in which we live Boganville) are quiet today, so I will not have my reading disturbed by Mr Congeniality across the road calling his children "f*7@ing wankers" so loudly that everyone on the block can hear him! Mrs Congeniality did, however, earlier have a phone conversation (on which I could only avoid eavesdropping by going utterly deaf) with someone who must have really gotten her goat, judging by the free use of the F-word and the even more pronounced whining lilt in her voice. Ja-well, no fine, broe! If only these people had been taught a wider range of expletives! But education and upbringing are alien concepts in Boganville, I'm sad to say...
I really enjoyed reading this Ray!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKeep it coming!!!!!
Thanks, Bill! I'll post as often as I can :-)
ReplyDelete