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Showing posts from November, 2014

I love family traditions

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Christo (left) with his 21st key. Big brother Brett is in the middle, flanked by Dad, Basil on his right. Nowadays so many people believe family traditions are old-fashioned and out of keeping with the modern world. The 21st celebrations that used to be a huge event, complete with a 21st key to celebrate the "Coming Of Age", is also under threat, it seems. When I was looking for a 21st key for our son, Christo, I was fascinated with a few responses. There were folk who said they didn't hand over the symbolic key while others settled for another symbol like a chain to substitute the key. Even Basil, my husband, said that " 21st keys" are outdated. I almost fainted! There was no way we were not going to have The Wooden Key. The key made from wood is, as far as I was concerned, the true symbol of celebrating your coming of age. I wasn't going to fall into the trap of the modern thinking and started hunting for someone who could sculpt a 21st key with a

End of year fatigue is in the air

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The year is slowly winding down and you can see and feel that end of year fatigue setting in. There is that beautiful saying: the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. I suppose many of us will say "Amen" to this. The year has been a long one with many challenges and changes.   I watched my colleagues at our Monday morning meeting. Usually there is wee bit of competition by one of my colleagues who likes to be the first to share her weekend delights. This week it was different, though. She sat there, twiddling her pen and eventually delivered her story like a stony judge. Then our workaholic, flu-ish colleague croaked her story of an awesome weekend away and ended on a whimperish note:" I am really exhausted." This, I may add, is not how we normally do it; we are just plain Moeg ( tired).   Sometimes this end of year fatigue can be a blessing, like my experience with a fellow road user. I must confess I can be quite irritated and impatient with motorists

The play, Rondomskrik,is a hard hitting reminder that we are our children's guardians

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The actresses in Rondomskrik . Shaleen Surtie-Richards, Chrystal Donna Richards and Lee Ann van Rooi. If you want to enjoy a good Afrikaans play and reflect on the state of our poor communities, the Rondomskrik at The Baxter theatre i s the answer. The play, #Rondomskrik, is an accurate portrayal of the violence, degradation and brokenness of many poor communities. The storyline is inspired by the brutal murder of 17 year old Anene Booysen in a rural town, Bredasdorp. This play delves deeply into the complex web of cruelty and the exploitation of our vulnerable youth by their own parents, family members and community members.   We see the resilience of the children, Antjie Fortuin (Crystal-Donna Roberts) and her brother (Richard September) as they learn how to cope with abuse and neglect by the adults who are supposed to be their nurturers and protectors. They are removed from their abusive mother (Lee-Ann van Rooi) who is eventually imprisoned for murdering one of her own children.

Nurture your friendships

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Friends having a Lekka Bos braai at Tokai Forest We need to nurture our friendships by spending quality time with our friends. That is exactly what we did today on this beautiful spring day. A group of old friends decided to catch up and braai. Many of us haven't seen one another for years, although we are in touch via social media. We set ourselves two conditions for this epic social. The braai was going to be a real "Bos" braai at Tokai Forest, our hotspot in the heyday. ( Of course, that was before we knew that we would be paying the adult entry fee for our car as well!) The second requirement was that everybody was going to have fun - no other expectations or judgement, just good ol' fun. ( This was easy and carried no hefty price tag.) Needless to say, there under the pine trees, our braai social was insane. All the years of not seeing one another vanished like vapour. We laughed hysterically as we travelled down memory lane. Our teaching antics and our