We were doing our usual complaining about the weather this morning at the coffee shop, as we huddled in our winter clothes, me with two blankets (everyone else only had one), in the freezing wind. Imagine this in the middle of October, we said, fondly remembering days of yore when we tanned behind the bathing boxes on Fish Hoek beach in the September school holidays. Come to think of it, we lay there rather than on the front lawns specifically to get out of the wind, so maybe it was just as cold then. However, at least there was sunshine!
A lady passing by said, 'You Cape Town people are funny. Do you all come from Cape Town?' We told her how long each of us had lived here and she said, 'So how many years is it since summer began in September? Ever since I can remember, summer starts at the end of December!' I told her that I could distinctly remember summer in September from 40 years ago and her expression was along the lines of 'I rest my case!' I suppose she has a point. After all, winter only begins in August, so we have at least 7 months of good weather - it's just that the dates have shifted.
Here in Kommetjie, the onset of summer and the accompanying south-east wind means that, no matter how big the waves are, we don't hear them as the wind is offshore. I rather miss the constant rumble and find the silence a little too quiet. I remember spending time in the Drakensberg, far from the sea, and being amazed that a place could be so devoid of any sound. Not a bird cheeped nor a blade of grass rustled. Although there's no disputing the awe-inspiring majesty of the mountains, give me the thundering waves of the Outer Kom any day.
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