A perfect winter’s day here in Africa. Update on the cultists: I saw a few close up and they seem very nice. I’ve started to find them reassuring. I also encountered some coming down from above Rhodes Memorial (I inferred they weren’t hikers as one seldom hikes with a large black hardcover book in hand). If people are going to be religious, I think incorporating serious physical activity is a cracking idea in our sedentary society. ...

A bit of a gloomy morning. They’ve begun restoration of the windmill after last year’s fire. Despite being a Saturday the cultists were out in fine form on the lower slopes, clapping erratically as if to banish devils. I find them rather comforting now.

We went for breakfast at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens yesterday. Wow. Winter in Cape Town sure is terrible. We actually got to spot the elusive Sombre Bulbul a couple of times - the call of which has been obsessing me for a year.

At the same location as the previous pic we came across these #cursed proteas. They only grow on the sites of necromancer’s towers.

A couple of #latergrams. Got to meet up with these ever delightful people a few weeks ago when we went to go see an Irma Stern exhibition. The knitter made us cute octopus plushies that we shall treasure.

Early morning Trinket, aka Bun. With the rolling blackouts due to our corrupt and negligent state power provider we’ve been using candles a fair bit. Bun can’t seem to learn that these lights are too spicy 🌶 for her and keeps singeing her whiskers.

#authurrackham’s illustration of Badger’s house in #thewindinthewillows is my template for domestic comfort. This is my dad’s 1952 copy of this edition - the last major book that Rackham, possibly the most highly regarded illustrator of all time, completed. My dad read it to us in instalments. A deep journey through pastoral beauty, the foolishness of faddish wealth, mystic forest visions, and dark and dangerous journeys of redemption.

Missed the mountain on the weekend thanks to weather. Got up long before dawn to get up there early. Was delayed by minibus taxis blocking the green light. Hurrah for private enterprise over public services! Got there though. No cultists on a Monday. I found I somewhat missed them. Thinking of my sibling who’s experiencing impaired vision due to COVID - a rare but not undocumented effect. Covid is real, it’s still here, and it’s still a serious disease. Holding thumbs. ...

I got to the mountain well early and got to see the first light hit Devil’s Peak. And yet I passed people coming down as I was going up. There’s a whole community of very fit people of all descriptions up there. It’s nice being proper fit again. I think there’s a threshold of fitness beyond which most exercise becomes much more enjoyable - challenging rather than trying. But it’s not easy for most people to reach that in systems that relentlessly encourage sedentary living. ...

Now with the correct month - I’m a dozy fool. It’s been two and a half years! We’re a six piece band now and get to knock out some baller surf-guitar classics like the Hawaii Five-O theme tune. The Striped Horse is a great place for it - just by Surfer’s Corner with an open fire and a thick list of craft beers.