One of our favourite guilty pleasures still is going down to Benguela Cove for a late afternoon bottle of wine. It is one of those venues that reminds one of just how splendid life can be. You sit there in the most beautiful surrounds, looking out onto the lagoon with the mountains in the distance, and life takes on a unique perspective. In such beauty – and here I am referring to not only the setting, but also those elegant, tall, slender wine glasses they have – it is easy to forget that sometimes life is not quite the way one hoped for. No. In fact, occasionally, like over a bottle of ice cold Benguela Lighthouse Sauvignon Blanc, live exceeds expectation.

We met up with friends at Benguela Cove on Saturday – some guilty pleasures are far better when shared with friends. Oooooh! Friend says, on our morning walk in the week, we saw three whales! Now, there is a difference between jealousy and envy. Jealousy is the bad relative. Like you have something nice, and I resent you for having it, and I want it for myself. Being envious, on the other hand, also makes you desire what the other person has, at the same time you are happy for them and celebrate in their good fortune. For a moment there, picturing Friend and the three whales, my emotions fluctuated between jealousy and envy. You see, I have actually not seen many whales this year at all. My friend saw three. And that is not fair, but then I remembered…

…With the World Wide Web at our fingertips, we have so much more opportunity to remain current, get educated and stay informed. Really, it is amazingly easy. I like discovering new pod casts. These are like snippets of wisdom, and you can choose for yourself how much, and how long you want this wisdom. A boring 20-minute wait for something to happen is just time enough to fit in a pod cast. Currently I am enjoying learning from a chap called Jefferson Fisher. One of his recent talks, he speaks on the word: Yet. Yet (the word) can change the meaning of a whole sentence. An example being: I have not seen any whales, as opposed to I have not seen any whales, yet. It takes the statement from being a dead in the water statement, to creating the expectation that something can still happen. And so, on Sunday, I said to Colin, we have not seen any whales this season, yet.

We set off for New Harbour Sunday morning. Walking out onto the long breakwater, I passed an angler telling his friend about the unpleasant experience he had that morning. There he was, minding his own business, waiting for a fish to bite, when next thing, right beside where he was sitting, a whale surfaced and spouted water. He was drenched from head to toe, he complained. I gaped at him, and I could feel my inner turmoil as Jealousy, in the left corner, and Envy, in the right corner, battled it out in my mind. As much as I would faint in ecstasy if ever that happened to me, I could also not get my mind around being showered in whale snot. I walked on pitying the man, and then, my eye caught movement. It was not one, not two, not three, but four whales! Man, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Once I had my full of whales, Colin suggested we go to Gearing’s Point for a sea front stroll. And there, we – and the rest of Hermanus tourists and locals, came upon seven whales in the bay. By the end of Sunday, I could honestly say: I have not seen whales YET. In fact, I saw eleven in total for the day. Oh. And a seal. Do not forget the seal.

This brings me to a few other YETs I can look forward to.

I have not won the Lotto, yet. But then, I have not bought a Lotto ticket, yet.

I have not visited all the wine farms in the Winelands, yet.

I have not cooked a batch of Gooseberry jam, yet.

I have not been down to that new artisan bakery, yet.

I do not have an outfit for the wedding, yet.

I did not have a single chocolate in a week. Please note the lack of yet. I did not have a single chocolate in a week.

What does not require a yet, is the fact that Meraki Mountain house has a roof on most of it. The holes are being fitted with windows, well, most of them. Who cares that we do not have a front door, yet, when the best is yet to come.