Dusk

I'm lying in bed watching the dusk creep up on and overwhelm the house. Perfect peace and quiet outside. Im going to prepare and light the fire that is a meter and a half from my bed, and pour a glass of chilled chardonnay. I don't have some red to match the fire.

Last light

It's late afternoon and I'm lying in bed staring out the window.
Last light. Which is reflecting on the bare trees in the street, and on an aloe plant I have in a pot.
The wind has finally stopped thrashing the trees outside; there's no other sound except for the neighbour with the awful generator's wind chimes.
We will, symbolically, be reaching the longest night in the coming week; I pray that, afterwards, the light and the end of the storm will come quickly.
The dawn is at its closest at the darkest hour.

Red hot poker

I'm trying to relax, chill, and to not work. Right now I'm sitting in a chair in the window with the black cat behind my head.
Between coffee (do you think I have a coffee problem?) and the bleak wintery view (it's an ugly day), I'm writing my morning pages as part of trying to make sense of the world.
Life is very hard at the moment. I'm trying to learn the lessons applicable to now ASAP so that I can move on to a nicer, better place. Please. Im asking nicely.
Nevertheless, I am able to appreciate the red hot poker that flowers in the dreariest time of the winter.
Happy Sunday...

Milly's Restaurant on N4 Toll Route gutted by fire

Yesterday was a sad day... Milly's Restaurant, a well-known landmark on the
N4 Toll Route just outside Machadodorp (Entokozweni), was gutted by a fire
that started in one of its chimneys. According to the restaurant's manager
and owner, patrons and employees were safely evacuated. She said that it
took a short 15 minutes for everything to go up in flames.
I have spent many hours in this restaurant, either working or enjoying the
sunset over the water in my quiet time. I look forward to seeing the shape
and form of the phoenix that will surely rise from these ashes.
The Highlands Herald team uploaded the photos they took to their Facebook
page: www.facebook.com/hherald

Wednesday night's lunar eclipse

These are photos - by Waterval Boven-based Gustav Janse van Rensburg (who often contributes the finest photos to the Highlands Herald) - of Wednesday night's lunar eclipse.
Taken on the edge of Mpumalanga's escarpment, not far from Waterval Boven, these photos emphasise the magnificence of our night sky, especially where there is so little light pollution, and where the winter night's air is crystal sharp.
Pics: Gusography (082) 753 3695

The fairest Cape of them all

If you live in Cape Town, you will know that the Cape has 80mm of rain predicted in the next 2 days. This is the build up, taken yesterday afternoon. © 2011 Chris Hitchcock

Tentative

A tornado has torn through my life for close on six weeks. I tentatively type out a few words on a very neglected blog. They say consistency is what keeps fans and drives new readers to blogs. But I'm not here for 'the traffic', I'm really just here for me, and me is very human and at times exceptionally frail. Sorry I was gone, but I could not help it. And my story really isn't much of one anyway. And I don't care that that is so.