For the kids

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And so, after 24 hours which have very, very nearly given us 100mm of rain in Cape Town, I find myself sitting in a car park near an oil refinery, in the dark and the continuing downpour, as the Boy Wonder trains for his next Big Thing (more about that at a later date).

The car park in question is about 30 sodden, spray-laden, trafficky kilometres from our house, and so with the session being two hours and the petrol price being what it is, I will sit here with my coffee, my portable hotspot for the internets and write a blog post as I overlook the lake.

Which… wasn’t there yesterday.

Not worth the effort and money of going home. And probably much safer to be here than on the road right now. In a country where every day is like driving in a video game, driving in the dark and the rain are like giving Pro Mode a try. You can get a hi-score just by arriving safely at your destination.

Of course, running your kids to various parties, events, classes and such is all part of being a modern day parent, And I’m very happy to support my children in all their chosen endeavours.

But there’s a lovely fire and a warm TV full of UEFA Nations League at home, and if I’m honest, I can’t help but feel that I’d rather be there than here right now.

Weather

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Another warm day. Very windy, but pleasant enough.
But it’s dark and grey now, with menacing clouds advancing over the mountain.
Yes, the storm is coming, but I also have to remind myself that it is winter and the sun does go down at about this time anyway, so that might well be the reason for at least some of the darkness.

But none of the menacing.

I, for one, am looking forward to a bit of drama and the disappearance of this high pressure, dry, stuffy, polluted air with all the sinus, allergies and static electric shocks.

The weather warnings are for “Damaging winds” and “Disruptive rain” with “Significant impact” (their capitalisation) from this evening. I’m going to let the gardener know that he doesn’t have to come in tomorrow.
No-one is going to want to be out and about in that.
Quite reasonably.

Well halo there

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The weird, pre-frontal weather continues here in Cape Town. Today, it’s 27oC with a gale force Northeasterly wind. There were already leaves everywhere, this being the end of the autumn, but now they’re all over the house as well.

And looking up, this huge halo around the sun. This isn’t because the sun is particularly angelic: it’s actually a fairly common phenomenon due to ice crystals in the earth’s upper atmosphere.

Halos around the sun or moon are said to be a sign of approaching bad weather, which fits for us in Cape Town today: indeed, I’ll be getting a quick braai in this evening, using some of the offcuts from the big wooden boat that our neighbour is building. And because these halos are due to the ice in high, thin cirrus or stratocirrus clouds, which do often appear before bad weather, this seems reasonable. However, high, thin cirrus or stratocirrus clouds can also appear before any other sort of weather too, so perhaps this phenomenon only portends stormy conditions when its observers choose to remember the times that it was actually accurate.

Snap’n’Ping

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The calf has been tested by walking a lot. And that includes Forest Drive (the posh one in Bishopscourt, not the crappy one in Pinelands) which is 100m of going upwards in 650m of going forwards (mainly upwards and forwards).

So today a gentle jog around the neighbourhood seemed in order. And off I went.
Bit of uphill – lovely. Bit of flat stuff – lovely. Bit of downhill – lovely. Finally!

But still taking things slowly because I’m older and wiser than I used to be.

And then I jogged down Oak Avenue (the one with the dead cat) and just as I got to the bottom there was a twangy poppy snappy ping and some pretty nasty pain from my left leg, and now I had a couple of kilometres and the best part of 100m to climb before I was home – with a mashed calf.

It probably didn’t help.

And so ice packs and drugs have been the order for the afternoon (plus some Deep Heat, because who doesn’t want to smell like a Frenchman’s groin?).

I think I need to chat to my physio next week.

Hamish Hawk cover

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I know music posts on this blog don’t go down well with everyone, but I need to pop a post up today and this Hamish Hawk cover of The Smiths is just so beautiful.

Short and oh so sweet.

You should remember Hamish from the Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973 song, which remains a real highlight from last year.

And if you’re wondering about what’s below, then you need to go here.