Saturday Night - 15th March
Good food – even better craic & very good friends – the recipe for a good night. The beach party theme in the restaurant this evening didn’t quite take off as it has rained all day. Thank God – I didn’t wear a bikini – I would have looked a right fool. But the food was fabulous & the people were great. I am not one to drink liqueurs or shots – but tonight I sampled some very odd drinks – more than is sensible – one or two I liked – some I didn’t. Still – with the special promotion for some strong apple liqueur – the “buy 2 shots & get a prize” - lured us all. My prize - a pair of satin boxer shorts? Can’t say I have ever left a bar before with a pair of men’s boxers in my handbag! There is a first time for everything eh?
With my guitar left back at Gav’s house in readiness – when the bar closed we all piled into the car & headed back to the house where me & Chester strummed & jammed into the wee small hours. Now I am not much of a singer even on a good day – but having talked all day – I was very hoarse & even the notes I can usually hit – evaded me. Still – even the croaky singing didn’t dampen my spirits. I went to bed at 5am & being a bit of an insomniac – I was back on the road to Umdloti by 7am. Gavin & Terry – if you ever read this – I can’t thank you enough. Not just for tonight – but for extending your warm & genuine hand of friendship to me. Thank you.
I have a couple of days to chill now – to reflect & prepare myself for the last few commitments next week before I take the tentative steps from African soil onto the plane & from the plane to English soil. The first bit of the transition I guess. What had been glibly referred to as “Kate’s African Adventure” is almost over & make no mistake – this has been an adventure. The sights – the sounds – the people who touched me – the kindness of relative strangers – the amazing highs – the humbling lows. I tried my best to ride the peaks well & hope that I managed the troughs with some dignity. But this experience has given me so much more than just an “adventure”. Some folk said that this experience would change me & they were right. So has this experience changed me in any way ? Not such a radical change that I no longer recognise myself – after all I’ve known Kate for 44 years – and grown to quite like her. But surely things I have witnessed touched and felt will have some lasting effect. However that as they say - is for the future. Today I am contemplating the mysterious lure of this wild country with all of its promise and pitfalls.
With my guitar left back at Gav’s house in readiness – when the bar closed we all piled into the car & headed back to the house where me & Chester strummed & jammed into the wee small hours. Now I am not much of a singer even on a good day – but having talked all day – I was very hoarse & even the notes I can usually hit – evaded me. Still – even the croaky singing didn’t dampen my spirits. I went to bed at 5am & being a bit of an insomniac – I was back on the road to Umdloti by 7am. Gavin & Terry – if you ever read this – I can’t thank you enough. Not just for tonight – but for extending your warm & genuine hand of friendship to me. Thank you.
I have a couple of days to chill now – to reflect & prepare myself for the last few commitments next week before I take the tentative steps from African soil onto the plane & from the plane to English soil. The first bit of the transition I guess. What had been glibly referred to as “Kate’s African Adventure” is almost over & make no mistake – this has been an adventure. The sights – the sounds – the people who touched me – the kindness of relative strangers – the amazing highs – the humbling lows. I tried my best to ride the peaks well & hope that I managed the troughs with some dignity. But this experience has given me so much more than just an “adventure”. Some folk said that this experience would change me & they were right. So has this experience changed me in any way ? Not such a radical change that I no longer recognise myself – after all I’ve known Kate for 44 years – and grown to quite like her. But surely things I have witnessed touched and felt will have some lasting effect. However that as they say - is for the future. Today I am contemplating the mysterious lure of this wild country with all of its promise and pitfalls.
No comments:
Post a Comment