Evening stroll

What a wonderful place I live in! A friend and I took an evening stroll along the walkway at the bay, and everyone we met was friendly and chatty, because we see each other regularly on these walks. But there were strangers we had to pass between as they conversed at the side of the path and we even managed to throw in a few sentences as we did so! It was a bit like a gathering of old friends as we made our way towards the Kom, where a small flock of flamingos were doing a soft shoe shuffle and grumbling away as they had an evening meal There was a great deal of squabbling going on, with one particularly aggressive bird chasing another with long neck stretched out straight as ruler as it pecked at the retreating rear end.

As you can see, the sea is once more like a pond, with only the slightest swell welling up at the Outer Kom and no other perceptible movement. A gigantic unladen tanker hove into view as it heads towards Cape Town - made me wonder why these vessels travel empty; it must play havoc with the bottom line.

The sun is moving south quite noticeably now and setting just a little later every day. Signs of spring abound, with Kommetjie's famous white daisies beginning to show a face or two, despite another month of winter to come. The freesias are in bud, and new leaves are shooting everywhere, as the last wave of late-blooming aloes burst forth along the pavements. Kommetjie must have one of the largest collections of aloes in Cape Town, giving us colour throughout the cold months in every shade, from palest yellow to deep red. They make a spectacular display en masse.

And so the end of another day. Sleep well.