I am a winter person. I love cold, frosty winter days. Even better when it is a cold, frosty, rainy day. One of my best holidays was a trip to Holland in early December, some years back. With a very short period of daylight, we would spend our time walking at semi dusk. The leafless trees had little icicles (real ones!) hanging from the branches and street and traffic lights had them reflecting the colours. It was magical. Nature’s very own Christmas lights. The next best thing about Holland was all the little coffee shops one could just dash into, for a coffee, with “ Slagroom”. And Spekulaas biscuits. These spicy little cookies have a way of warming you from the inside out. It is a bit like a hot flush, just much nicer.

We are about to have our second winter in the Western Cape. Our first winter was a little disappointing. Of course, when we announced our move down here, everyone warned us against the winters down here. Last winter was very mild. All my coats and scarves remained in my cupboard, completely unused. So far, this winter looks a little more promising. The trees around us are turning colour. Oak trees are not very South African. The Cape however, with all its colonial past masters, has plenty of them. And even I must admit: the Oak Trees do look lovely when their leaves start turning.

Another pleasant surprise is the sunrise we have here. Firstly, it could be because the sunrises so much later here, I notice it more. It could also be where we live. With no city lights and tall buildings to get in the way, sunrise is just so much more spectacular. A sunrise is God’s way of saying: Let’s start again. I heard some one say: you feel you actually get value for your day when you watch the sun rise. The main reason why I like the sunrise so much? It coincides with the time I leave home in the mornings, and at least there is some light when I stop to unlock the farm gate. Now that, is one of the down sides of farm living. Farms have gates, and there is a reason for them being closed and locked.

There are some interesting superstitions around sunrise.  Red sky at night is a sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning is a sailors warning. This saying goes back to Biblical times. You will find it in the book of Matthew. There is however nothing sinister nor promising about the colour of a sunrise. The colour is caused by sunlight being scattered due to particles and not every fiery sunrise is a sign of coming storms, or an omen to go buy a Lotto ticket.

Apart from Coffee with “slagroom”, winter jackets and sunrises, I also happen to like John Denver. Of his many songs, Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, makes ME happy. He wrote this song one particularly long and cold Canadian winter, during 1971. Sadly, we all know that John Denver died in a plane crash, one that he was piloting himself. Ironic to think that perhaps the last thing he saw may have been a sunrise. Ooooo! Now that makes me sad.

Anyway, I am digressing. Someone messaged me last week, asking about our building. She pointed out that I have not written or posted much about our building site lately. My response to her: It will be a very short paragraph if I did. You see, during the month of April, we took a building break. Until you have actually done so yourself, you can’t appreciate how nerve wreaking building a house can be. Colin and I felt we just needed a little time to sit back, catch our collective breath, and do a bit of planning on what to do next. When you build, it can be very tempting to bounce from one area to another, and not actually achieve actual results. We were starting to bounce. So, we made the decision to have time out and to focus our Zen. Now that, the Zen-thing, is supposed to help us find mindful awareness in the present moment. I can’t vouch that it worked, but either way, it gave us an opportunity away from the project, away from contractors and suppliers, and away from emotional decisions, and an opportunity to look realistically at where we are, and where to go from here.

Another reason is that April calendar in South Africa reads a bit like a knitting pattern. We have so many public holidays, that you knit one, slip one and repeat until the end of the row (or month.) It is not a very productive time in our country. I personally find that when we eventually reach the end of all the holidays, I look forward to going back to life as normal. So, in all, April was a good month to take time out. But we are over it now, and ready to get back to building. It will be the final push now. It will hopefully take Meraki Mountain to go from looking like a modern Stonehenge, to looking like an actual building.

A sunrise is God’s way of saying: Let’s start again. And so we will. We have gathered our wits, we feel strong again, so brace yourself for plenty updates on the mountain, the builders and of course, Liefie. Truth be known, I think Colin missed Liefie (that is the “site” dog, for those of you who do not know the background) more than he cares to admit.

Another highlight of this time of year is that we are approaching Whale season. To me, spotting a whale is quite a spiritual moment. I feel the same way about elephant and rhino. Such big, clumsy animals. In stature, obviously we are much smaller than them. But spiritually, they make me realise how small we are, and how little we know. It also makes me grateful that I am spotting them from a distance and not enjoying the full Jonah experience!

So, brace yourselves folks. Soon, we will be moving mountains again! Starting at sunrise and ending at sun set. Which, by the way, in a Cape winter, is not that far apart.

Until then: Adios!