Getting wet in more ways than one

A helicopter with a bucket flew by our offices in Claremont this afternoon - indicating a fire that was in an inaccessible place and a possible danger. A while later we heard that Ou Kaapse Weg was closed due to the fire and we would have to take the long route - not fun on a Friday when the route is always clogged with commuters all trying to get home at the same time. Living in the Deep South can have serious disadvantages due to the lack of alternative routes in the event of an accident, although in good times we are happy to live there.

By the time I left at 4pm, the weather had taken a turn for the worse - the heavens had opened and a strong wind was blowing down the slopes of the Newlands mountain, battering the unfortunate pedestrian commuters who surely had not anticipated a wintry return home after a pleasantly mild start. Cloud cover was low and the volume of water falling from them assured me that the fire would be out by the time I got there. It nearly was, and 6 or 8 fire engines and other assorted firefighting vehicles lined the road, while the firemen trudged along the mountain to beat out the resistant flames. They must have been very happy to have rain helping them, especially as the wind was so strong.

I too, was happy with the rain, although not that enchanted with the 50 minute wait to get through the Sun Valley robots. I'm sure that any government official who had to sit in that lot every day would ensure that the robots were re-set to a more acceptable time interval, or at least have a traffic cop on duty to supervise the flow - that always works perfectly with no waiting or snarl-ups. The ideal solution would be to remove the Capri robot and put in a roundabout, but the ideal is never what we get. The silver lining was in the clouds that cleared as we waited and blue sky and sunshine appeared on the far horizon. You can't say weather doesn't change quickly in Cape Town.

After a long day, I was even less enchanted to find that it was my turn to have the dog wee on my bed (sorry for blaming you, Biggles!) which is the second time this has happened. It seems that poor blind Susie is becoming an invalid - I foresee a nappied future! So the bedding is currently in the machine and things are somewhat chaotic in this household. Roll on December.