Wheatlands News

My friend Riekie has recently started a blog. It is written in her usual poetic style, full of idioms and metaphors and, typically, has me laughing out loud. It is the story of a Parktown prawn... a cockroach, which is not quite as big as the model in this picture. But almost... It is written in Afrikaans, as Google helpfully informs me. What I found really interesting was the totally unexpected poetry of the translation. Thanks to Riekie and Google I have a whole new vocabulary. Who could fail to respond to " hurt your heart to a shrink". I know just what that feels like. And this! " I have temporarily set sail eternal.  shamelessly chose to reality exchange for the safe darkness of nowhere." Pure poetry! Riekie's blog is here  http://diamanteoppiepavement.blogspot.com/2010/12/parktown-prawn.html Do yourself a favour and read it.

This time of year always feels like it is filled with anticipation. It must be the combined energy of so many of us planning new beginnings, new projects and filled with new determination that this year will be different. Sometimes all it takes is a glimpse to inspire us to new heights. When we were in Rome last month, the one thing that I wanted to see more than anything was a keyhole in a door that gave a view of the Vatican. We trudged up a rather steep hill in the pouring rain to take a peek, and for me it was absolutely worth it. I had expected it to be special, but I didn't expect it would take my breath away. We stayed long enough to see it after dark too, and the vision of the dome of the Vatican lit up, framed by the dark arch of trees is something I will never forget. We tried taking pictures, but as you can see they just didn't do it justice. I suspect the ones you can find on the web were taken from inside the door. What I didn't realise at the time w...

How come no one tells you, when you are young and pregnant, that once your children are born you will never, ever be a whole person again unless you know they are safe and happy? How come no one ever tells you, when your sons are young and noisy and fighting and a bit smelly (and every second word is Muuuum!) that you will reach a stage when they are their own men, and far away and you'll long with every fibre of your being for just one more day of noise and being totally needed? How come no one ever tells you that once your boys become men, life will never be the same again? That you will never, ever know them in the way that you once did? That even though you talk almost every day, part of their lives will be censored rather than shared? (and that you know that is the way it should be) How come no one ever tells you that you will feel so proud of what your boys are doing (both of them) that you feel like your heart will burst? And that no matter what happens, you'll ne...

It was a strange Christmas. Usually Greg and I  have a house full of family and friends, lots of laughter and lots of love. This year, the love was still there but the family and friends were not. They are scattered all over the world and I miss them like crazy. I feel disconnected and a bit lost.

Greg has just got home from spending a couple of days with some very sad people. People who have lost hope. People who have traded joy and love and laughter for stilted formality and a grey and sterile existence. It is so frustrating and debilitating to be with people like that and I want to scream in anger and grief at the thought of what life must be like for them. I have lived with depression and loss and pain and I know what it is to feel the loneliness that gnaws away at your soul, but I have always had that (sometimes tiny) spark of hope that makes me believe that things can, and will be better. They don't seem to have even that... all they are left with is the mind-numbing sameness  that comes when you are existing rather than living. The picture above is of Greg on the station in Rome as we waited to catch a train to Venice a couple of weeks ago. I love the  thakka, thakka thakka of the arrivals and departure boards, and that exciting feeling that "...

Sometimes I need a reminder... The things that look big and scary may just need a bop on the nose to bring them down to size.

Sometimes I wonder how it is that I can stay alive when so much of my heart seems to live outside of my body, attached inextricably to those I love