This year, for many people, Happy New Year was more of a hesitant question than the bold exuberant greeting. For the buoyantly optimistic, it is the start of what has to be better times, but for many jaded people it is a whispered sigh of disbelief. There is just too much sadness, confusion and tiredness going round to believe that this will, indeed, be a happier new start to the previous years.
In decades past, Andrew's parents were part of the street party generation. On old year's eve, the neighbourhood would gather with their filled tupperwares and bottles of wine and party the night away. At midnight, they cranked up an old siren and welcomed the new year in loudly and enthusiastically. My family of origin were often in Sedgefield and as there was no electricity (or water - we pumped our water supply by hand from ground water....), it was a quieter affair. I liked that we rolled with the rhythm of nature - sunrise and sunset being our clocks. (The Fiddler on the Roof song comes to mind.....one year following another..........)
The turn of the century was probably one of my most memorable New Year's Eves. We (Andrew, R and me - K was an unborn treasure at that point) went to Milnerton beach, and watched the fireworks across the bay. Do you remember the underground panic that was doing the rounds at that time? The Y2K phenomenon was seen as a Clear and Present danger. The threat was all/most/some technology would stop working because of the date change. (Here's a wiki link for you Young People who haven't heard of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem ) January 1 2000 came and went and the Y2K worry faded into obscurity. The scientists handled the problem, and the conspiracy theorists found themselves without a cause. If only 1 January 2022 could have been as unremarkable...
This year, we were roadtripping over New Year. Andrew's sense of adventure (and direction) leads us on some offbeat paths. We were cruising the dust roads in the mountains behind Barrydale when we came across 2 farm gates stacked one on top of the other. Tall cattle we assumed. Or giraffes, we laughed. But no....rather unbelievably, we saw elephants. We had stumbled across a private nature reserve (in case you are thinking elephants roam the streets in South Africa....). What a treat to observe these magnificent creatures. It felt like a gift. Barrydale was lovely too, and we saw the new year in after playing board games with friends, clinking our sparkling wine just after 11.30 (I decided we had waited long enough!)
But I am ever mindful of the time of loss we are in. I think one of the greatest losses is our ability to have the confidence to be happy and care free. We are all too aware how everything can be snatched away in the blink of an eye. Life is fragile.
Happy New Year? Let's wait and see.
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| Magnificent animal |
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| View from the stoep in Barrydale |
