Almost changing seasons

Autumn is reaching out its chilly fingers, albeit tentatively, in the early mornings now. The sun is still beating it back by mid-morning, but the March lilies are already in bloom - signs of fading summer - and in the evenings the heat radiating out from the warm earth soon dissipates, giving the plants a hint that cooler times lie ahead. It's noticeably darker in the mornings, with my view of the Back Table changing as the angle of the sun on the mountain slopes reveals new shadows. It will be interesting to compare the photographs through the seasons - a pictorial history of the weather rather than a written record, as kept by my father over the last 40 or so years. You may ask him the weather for any day over that period and he can let you know, without the help of a computer or Google!

As the weather shifts up from the lower latitudes, the swell here off Kommetjie has been impressive to say the least, providing huge waves in a relatively calm sea, accentuated by the late southeaster currently blasting through the valley. It's a different sea to the winter storms, which are lumpy and breaking all over the place. This is a very defined break across the many reefs which surround us, and provides a great opportunity for identifying them and knowing where not to set your crayfish nets if you don't want a sudden unpleasant surprise. We have had many occasions when a rogue wave has appeared while we have drifted on the current, waiting to pull up our nets, and I always made it my business to keep a sharp eye on the sea, rather than chat idly and have a beer - the word 'fishwife' would probably best describe my panicked cries as I would shriek 'Start the engine, start the engine!' while He Who Can Fix Anything would just smile quietly and completely ignore me.

He's always been an expert boat handler and we've never sunk yet, although a wave did once catch him unawares and he had to make a very sharp turn, launching a crew member straight into the freezing water! But being a young boy who loved going in the boat with him, it was treated as a great joke, after fishing him out of the water and taking him home for hot coffee and a crayfish braai!