One extreme to the other

After a surprisingly benificent meeting with the bargaining council in town this morning, I wended my way to my favourite spot for restoring the soul - Kirstenbosch. There I had visions of lying on the lawn in the dappled shade of some ancient leafy tree with only the breeze providing a song on the wind. The first thing that went wrong was that there was no breeze - it was scorchingly hot with no respite from any direction. The next thing was the sound of a hammer and power tools - the footbridge over the little stream was receiving some attention from the maintenance team.

Not to be put off, I headed for the bench bearing a plaque in memory of my great-aunt and uncle where I planned to sit, only to find it occupied - that would be because it was in the shade! So it was off across the lawns to an isolated spot under the trees. Of course, the sprinkler system had just been turned off and the surrounding lawn and bench were wet. Still not put off, I flicked the pools of water off the bench and settled myself in to do a bit of reading.

Not five minutes into my book, a tractor roared to life behind a copse nearby, shot out onto the lawn with its mowing attachment and proceeded with lawn maintenance. I know it's a big garden and needs constant attention, but please could they put up a maintenance schedule at the gate so that we can see what to expect before paying to get in? It was even too hot to contemplate a cappuccino, so it was back in the car and off to the mall and some welcome airconditioning.

As I drove over Ou Kaapse Weg, with its panoramic view across the Peninsula, I could see an ominous bank of clouds moving up from the direction of Cape Point - a heavy fog coming in on the high level south east wind that was only blowing across the southern Peninsula. By the time I got home, the wind was gusting, but it was still too hot to walk. By late afternoon, the fog had moved in and it was time for my friend and I to take a brisk walk to the lighthouse. To the north, the sun shone brightly, but in Kommetjie it was gloomy and not very enticing, which was a great shame for the young couple from Denmark who were having their wedding photographs taken down at the rocks. How unfortunate that they chose the only place in Cape Town where the sun wasn't shining for the event. Hopefully they didn't notice.