I was getting worried here

what with all the rain since Monday night I was starting to think we would be having a replay of 1988 when we had major flooding here in the Free State... turns out that there has been some flooding plus the fact that most harvesting has come to a slushy stop!
Here are two galleries of flood pics on the local newspaper site and the story of one flooded farmer.
I must say that I was following the storm on Oom Koos's site and he has some pics too! The satellite images were quite dramatic! Today it shows most of the system out over the Indian Ocean.

Amazing what tools we have today but still we are impotent at the power of nature, all we can doe is trust in God.
"The hurricane flooded me out of a lot of memorabilia, but it can't flood out the memories."
Tom Dempsey

Contrary to what the Insurance Industry says...

trees DO jump in front of oncoming cars! This past Saturday afternoon I was crawling along the street in pouring rain on my way to pick up salad ingredients before going to MD's place to help prepare for a 21'st braai, when this tree decided to let go in the wind and jump into the street... needless to say I was relieved that it did not decide to jump as I was alongside it... Picture taken on my cellphone after I backed away for a bigger view after giving thanks for the narrow squeak.

On turning the corner this poor thorn tree had also been wrenched by the wind and lost a branch or two.

Then at Checkers I got the real fright as this motorist drove up the ramp where we were all coming and going out of the shop... almost running down a customer in the process... just so his family could be dry... some folk are truly selfish and inconsiderate.

The car had no number plates either so that is another indication of the drivers view on laws and common sense...
Pity our local traffic police have been very lax of late... they are so deep in hiding we never see them!
Later on Sunday I noticed a few other trees down as well as numerous signs, must have been quite a gust of wind that passed over Langenhovenpark.
But we are very glad that it has started raining, hopefully there will be more in the coming weeks.
"Do you see how the god always hurls his bolts at the greatest houses and the tallest trees. For he is wont to thwart whatever is greater than the rest."
Herodotus

Next big one

Well... the Boks sorted the Poms... now we go Orange for the Currie Cup final here in Bloem. against the Golden Lions next Saturday. I hope there is no rain on the day, the semi final against the Blue Bulls was preceded by a cloudburst of note and it drizzled the whole game. After the game the city will be having a party but I have been invited to something better... under the moonlight... and that is why there should be no rain. However improvisation has always been one of my abilities so even rain will not dampen our adventure...
The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it. Unknown

Rainy days and Mondaze

No this is not Niagara from space... just a young donga where once a road was... we must really make a plan to fix the berms and access road again. Saturday at the track!





A view towards Marathon Mountain, the big step up jump with water streaming off the start last Saturday, to say the track is wet is an understatement. Wat was amazing is that 15 minutes later all the water had disappeared, sucked in by the unquenchable earth. We need a lot more but are in awe that You know what we need.
New assistant not at work by 08h15... not good. As KatieB said "Strike 1" but I had to eat crow... she arrived at 08H30 with the boss and she a is brilliant... a fast learner and such neat handwriting. So that was sorted out, thanks Big Guy. I should have been more optimistic, strike 1 for me. I hear echoes of "Learn to trust my son"...
The afternoon meeting was not my favourite way to be tortured... I reckon it could all have been done by circulating a e-mail memo or two, but at least 'n know the dates for the big R next year and can plan accordingly. It may be the last one I do... I found out I have an "escape clause" the day I turn 55... I just do not see me living to the ripe age of 60 if I do not follow my dreams, or at least try.
Got home and promptly dozed a while... first day back at work syndrome. Oh Joy... dinner just exploded in the microwave... don't you just love it when that TV dinner does that! Guess I am having a Manic Monday...

[via FoxyTunes / The Bangles-Manic Monday]
Six o' clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can't be late
Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it were Sunday
Cause that's my fun day
My I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday

Have to catch an early train
Got to be to work by nine
And if I had an aeroplane
I still couldn't make it on time
Cause it takes me so long just to figure out what I'm gonna wear
Blame it on the train
But the boss is already there

It's just another manic Monday
Wish it were Sunday
Cause that's my fun day
My I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday

All of the nights
Why did my lover have to pick last night
To get down
Doesn't it matter
That I have to feed the both of us
Employment's down
He tells me in his bedroom voice
C'mon honey, let's go make some noise
Time it goes so fast
When you're having fun

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it were Sunday
Cause that's my fun day
I don't have to run day
It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
Cause that's my fun day
It's just a manic Monday
Suffice to say today actually passed in a daze...
"On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks." H. Allen Smith, "Let the Crabgrass Grow"

No mercy for the lonely

Woke up humming "Missing" by No Mercy and for the first time I had an urgent need to get home, I miss my kids and cats but I miss something else as well.
The Yatclub... a highly recommended establishment for weary travelers. This was taken as I digested a breakfast of note... I had my own mini loaf of freshly baked bread and the most delicious omelet made by the host Des.
The tranquility of the dam at the Yatclub, now I saw why Des said he changed the name to Yatclub... this stretch of the Grobbelaars's river is scarcely big enough to float a canoe.
These clouds made up my mind that I needed a warm mug of coffee... back in Bloem preferably!
One went before me... So I am not the only crazy biker out in the freezing cold... making wee breaks to errrr strech the legs... cold weather and 3 cups of strong coffee do not help the miles go by.
The desolation of Karroo vistas... my heart is sometimes as hungry as these vast places... I am craving someone to share my dreams with again and somone has been texting me a few times this trip that I feel may just be the one to share with. I may be wrong...
Last picture of the trip as I stood freezing on the Lootsberg pass... there was even more snow around the corner! From here we had crosswinds, headwinds, tailwinds, a few drops of sleet and a conviction that something needed to be done...
Reaching Middelburg I decided to brave the wind and try for Colesberg, maybe staying overnight. When I saw the distance between Colesberg and Bloem I sent a text request for sustenance... ETA 7 pm it is. I think this is when the little arrow took effect. The rest of the day is history and engraved in my heart forever... Tomorrow is bright with possibility.
"Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering." R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 - 1983)
Day 12 of 12 Days with Shrek

Wet, wet, wet

The front is here...
Getting some breakfast in Kleinmond
Wall of cloud rolling in over the mountains... this is gonna be wet!
Time to suit up and hope hope that the tires are also good in the wet.

Day 5 of 12 Days with Shrek

Lagging blogging

Yeah I know I am lagging behind but blogging is playing second fiddle to Life As We Know It... (a Blog title in there somewhere!)
My previous blog mentioned a playlist that went down well at yesterday's MX race... and it brought us rain as well, fortunately it was not a Noachian Deluge and we could finish the races although we snipped about 8 minutes off each moto for the the last set of heats and then the heavens opened again... prize giving was a very intimate affair for those hardy souls that stayed for their share of the booty. We all squeezed into the clubhouse stoop and Anton's gazebo.
[Reserved for pics!]
As soon as our intrepid Chief Scorer Thea remembers I may post some pics... yours truly was too busy as COC to take much in the way of photos... although I do wish we had some of the Crash of Note, executed by Estefan, who had no clue where he was for a while! I never knew a human body could do such contortions and bounce like that without breaking bones... Those Angels need serious overtime pay.
Now I know today's quote has little to do with Motocross crashes but at least it has "crash" and "bumpy" in it... so maybe there is a connection? in any case I loved Northern Exposure... wish it was on TV again.
"Most of you have been where I am tonight. The crash site of unrequited love. You ask yourself, How did I get here? What was it about? Was it her smile? Was it the way she crossed her legs, the turn of her ankle, the poignant vulnerability of her slender wrists? What are these elusive and ephemeral things that ignite passion in the human heart? That's an age-old question. It's perfect food for thought on a bright midsummer's night."
Martin Sage and Sybil Adelman, Northern Exposure, The Bumpy Road to Love, 1991

Now where did I park the Zodiac?

As you can see from weatherpixie it is wet wet wet...
It has been raining non stop since 07:00 and it is 12:03, seriously folks I do believe I need a Zodiac to go about my business today! By rain I mean torrents, not soft and gentle but not like a cloudburst just buckets and buckets of water! This is reminding me of 1988's flood weather, it also started with good rains that fell over a two month period and then it really started raining, we though we were having a repeat of Noahcian times... here we go again... more to follow.


















Some rubber duck...