John Steinbeck authored the book: Of Mice and Men. First published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of 2 displaced migrant ranch workers who move from place to place in search of new opportunities during the Great Depression. It was considered to be a vulgar read, full of offensive language and seen as promoting euthanasia. Much later, it was regarded as one of the nation’s best loved novels, but it had to wait almost a century for that insight to develop.

The book was penned by an American, but the title was taken from the Robert Burns poem “To a Mouse”. Rabbie Burns (as he is generally and affectionately known) is regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. The opening line of the poem is:

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men often go awry.

Cape Crawl, on the other hand, is authored by me, and it narrates the experience of 2 displaced Gautengers, who have migrated to the Western Cape. I hope that it is not considered vulgar or offensive, and as much as I have never been in a situation that requires me to have an opinion on the euthanasia debate, I do have a lot to say about Eskom and the chances of them being euthanized. You see, many weeks and many ditches later, the electrical cable in the middle of nowhere is still unresolved – much to our frustration, all of which Eskom is oblivious to. So, thanks to Eskom, the best laid plans o’ Colin an’ Sjarlene often go awry. I do hope that it will take less than a century to resolve.

While we are impatiently waiting for Eskom, we have had a few interesting experiences. Firstly, the long-awaited day arrived for our FynArts show. It was an Organ and Sax recital. The artists truly were superb and deserved a bigger audience than what was present. I often wonder why the organ, which is such a majestic instrument – it is after all the grand father of music, attracts so few followers. Organs date back to 285-222 BC, when the first water organ was invented. Greeks and Romans played it long before Western Europe and the Catholic Church got hold of it, where the organ became part of the Catholic liturgy. Maybe that is the problem. Organs are seen as “church music”, and not as a contemporary instrument.

Wanting to escape our small town a little earlier, we drove into Hermanus well before we were due to meet up with our friends. After a quick stop (to buy another version of the special price wine from last time), we decided to park at the old harbour and just spend some time looking at the sea. It was too cold and windy to take a walk (truth is I was trying to protect my very decent looking hair for the concert, as 10 minutes in the Cape winds has me resembling an explosion in a mattress factory). And next thing, there it was! A whale, casually swimming along right into our line of vision! This time of year is whale season, but we expected to visit certain viewing points along the coast and a long wait (as often happens when game viewing) to see whales. We did not expect such a treat. A neighbour, when I told her about our excitement, said that there is no such thing as a co-incidence. So, I do hope that in some ancient whale mythology, sighting a whale in an old harbour is a sign of Eskom sorting out an electrical cable.

But now to tell you about something much smaller. Driving into Botrivier, there are a few houses as you come into the town. (These houses are just after the one and only speed bump in Botrivier, which locals do not respect as a speed bump, but rather uses as a launching pad, to arrive in town sooner.) The first house has an array of miniature wooden buildings in the garden, it is almost a version of “mini town”, but for the home owners’ exclusive enjoyment. I have been told it is a chap that enjoys doing woodwork, and as such he makes miniature versions of landmark buildings and displays it in his garden. Next, is a house with a big sign encouraging folks to buy local. This house has converted every bit of garden space into retail space. The curbside is a display of all sorts of ornamental farm animals, lucerne bales and signage inviting you in to buy whatever is on the pavement, honey, jams, “koeksisters” and worm compost. It is simple: you stop at the gate, let yourself in, do your shopping, and when done, you ring a bell and the person in the house comes out so you can pay. On this specific trip, I had my Mom with me, and she wanted bags of worm compost. Friendly man asked if I knew what worm compost was, and before I could answer, whisked me to the back of the house where he keeps his worm farm. There must be about 12 containers, each with (I was told) up to a million earth worms in. The fancy name for this is vermicomposting. It is a natural, sustainable, and effective way to create nutrient dense compost for gardening. Happy, pumpkin eating, pooping worms provide a virtually limitless supply of high-quality fertilizer. So popular is this enterprise, that worm farmer proudly told me how he dispatches orders of worms daily, using a courier company. I definitely know where to come shopping for fertilizer, once we can start planting our Mountain Garden. Our oldest son was with us, and no, he did not need any worm compost for his new garden. His mother-in-law got hold of a few tones of horse manure. Apparently, lion manure is even better. Gosh. Some folks do take this all-organic thing to extremes.

My very eloquent friend taught me a new word this week. Discombobulated. It is a humorous adjective, that means confused and pained. Which I think aptly describes how I feel about Eskom and their cable. They are our one and only electricity supplier. They do not answer their phones. Emails are not responded to. Cables are buried in the most unlikely places. I personally avoid those Nay Sayers that run the country down. Really, if it so bad here, why do you hang around? Go find your pot of gold elsewhere. But right now, I am tempted to join their chorus. I will be the sax to their organ. The lion to their compost. Their mice to their men. The whale to their tourist, if only we can get some action out of them. We are not asking much, and yes, we know that ultimately, we will have to foot the bill (that much has been made quite clear to us.) There is no such thing as co-incidence, and right now, something needs to give. Surely there cannot be so many obstacles to prosperity? Please may Eskom also see the mythological whale, and just move the cable. That’s all we ask….for now, anyway.