Tomorrow I don't have to get up at 5.30 and I don't care if the rooster next door crows well before dawn - I can have a lie in. I will look out towards Table Mountain and wait for the flock of sacred ibis to swoosh overhead in their elegant V. A gaggle of hadedahs will straggle by a while later on their way to a lawn somewhere, and maybe the super-sleek in flight flamingos will cruise in for a day at the Kom. The pin-tailed whydah will bob outside my window, admiring his reflection and fabulous tail feathers. My camera will be at the ready in case the black sparrowhawk swoops in for breakfast.
And even if I miss all of this, the tide will continue to ebb and flow, filling the Kom tidal pool to the height of a flamingo's leg and then receding to the depth
of a gull's. A boat bobs in the bay, waiting for those few days when we are allowed to catch crayfish, freshly painted for the season in bright primary colours - a perfect scene for holidaymakers to snap and take home with their memories of a summer spent in this lovely part of the Cape.
Soon the evening air will be filled with the aroma of meat on the braai as the summer days lengthen and mealtimes become al fresco. The maternal cluck of the hens next door as they produce our breakfast eggs will compete with the calling of the seabirds on the rocks nearby. And at sunset, the cliffs and clouds will turn every shade of pink in the dying rays of the day, and the world will be at peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment