Did you hit the Gate?

2006-05-28T04:26:00.000-07:00

Did you hit the Gate? Part 3

They met in Church, drawn together by some invisible force, Roy, a mature bachelor, she a widow, they found that something in each other that no science can prove or can even try.

On the night, Edith approached the very busy Roy, and asked “Will you come for a walk with me?”
It was the first time Roy had set eyes on her and when he did the reaction was instantaneous.
“Yes” he replied without hesitation.

They walked through the small town, not seeing the shop windows or the street lights, just each other.
Roy, normally coy and shy, asked Edith, “May I hold your hand?”
She agreed and when they touched, the electricity lit up both their hearts and was evident on their faces.
After walking for some time, they turned around to return the way they had come and found themselves facing each other.
Roy asked “Would you mind if I kissed you?”
Edith laughed and said “Never ask again, just do”.

Monday morning dawned bright and fresh, Roy woke and looked out of the bedroom window on to his garden, as he always did. Today was just a little different; the birds drank from the bath, the dew hung in drops on the blades of grass, the flowers pointed their heads to the raising sun; just as always, just today he had someone to share it with.
Edith sensed he was awake and did not speak, just allowed her-self to feel comfortable and happy. They both went to work late that morning.

Edith and Roy moved in together within the week and soon their business interests found common ground and occupied the same building. Roy and Edith lived and worked close together from then on.

In the mid-sixties and especially in South Africa, there was this moral code that was almost Victorian and living together was frowned on, especially by the church that both Roy and Edith attended. Despite this, Roy and Edith lived together and the community accepted their decision, the church ministers and other moralists silenced by their friends and their devotion to one another.

It came as no surprise when Roy announced to the world that he and Edith had decided to get engaged with marriage to follow. This was the excuse that was fielded for party of the century and it was.

Roy was in the agricultural supplies business, and his brothers, there were 3, shared a large property 10 km out of town. On the weekend that the party was planned for, the preparation began early, on Thursday. The African staff where selected and told to prepare for a large group fires where lit for what is known as a barbeque, in Africa it is called by its Dutch name; “Braaivleis”, or “Braai”.

One of the dishes served is an almost tasteless porridge called “pap”. Correctly prepared and served with meat and gravy it is an art form. Out came the three legged pot that would simmer above an open fire until Saturday night. The mixture of meal and water with some salt, needed to be stirred frequently and kept at a constant temperature to ensure it cooked right through. The huge pot that looked like the ones that the cannibals cooked the missionary in the cartoons and to ensure that there was enough there were three pots merrily boiling away and being tended 24 hours a day.
Liberal amounts of alcohol; food and soft drinks, along with a band for the night were ordered and duly delivered.
Friday night was considered a warm up and most of the guests arrived for the festivities. Food and drink flowed freely, dancing, chatting and party games being part and parcel of the party. The party did not end on Friday night, it just kept going all through Saturday and into Sunday morning.

We, my family and I, arrived on the Saturday afternoon to find the party in full swing. Mum and Dad being great dancers, found the floor and promptly stayed there for a couple of hours and wound up collapsing into chairs out of exhaustion.
I watched the goings on with much glee, one group of men had found a dart board and where playing 501, with the losing team being deigned food and drink until they got there revenge!
One conversation I found most interesting was one on the ups and downs of farm life, which soon became a story swap about funny things that happened on the farm.
Around mid-night some guests left, making the excuse that the next day they had to go to church, (many of the guests did go on the Sunday morning, some still intoxicated).
We got home in time to see the sun rise.

Legend has it that on the Sunday morning, Roy’s three brothers went to church and after the service went and woke up the local bottle shop owner. As it was illegal to trade in liquor on a Sunday in South Africa at the time; they had to do some pretty quick talking and there was the promise of a deep freeze full of meat involved. There was a pick-up loaded with drink left the town around lunch time on Sunday and no-one admitted it ever happened.

The party finally finished on Tuesday when Roy decided that it was time to re-open the shop and earn enough to pay for the wedding; this one started on Thursday and ended on Tuesday, how long would the wedding reception go on for?

After the hangovers were cured and the fires burnt out, life got back to normal; after a few months Roy and Edith started to make wedding plans.

Deciding on an Anti-nuptial Agreement they chose a legal firm in another nearby town to do the paperwork. They were going to use the newly opened gorge road that wound through a picturesque area. The soaring cliffs, trees and river made the journey interesting and quite exciting.

Roy and Edith had confided in a friend that they were considering a civil ceremony instead of the traditional church wedding and where going to find out about how that could happen with the least amount of fuss.

Roy and Edith where making plans for a future together and wanted to tell the world that by marriage; they were travelling at the speed limit, on their side of the road when they approached the blind corner. The details where at best hazy after that, but Roy and Edith’s car was crushed between a lorry and the cliff face and dragged for almost 100 metres. Roy and Edith died together.

The town stopped for the funeral, the procession to the graveyard stretched for what seemed to be miles. It was the first funeral I had attended that celebrated life as apposed to being a sad occasion mourning the loss of loved ones.

Roy and Edith were buried in a single grave, together for all eternity.

When the rain falls and the sun shines at the same time in Southern Africa it is called a monkey’s wedding. I sat on the veranda one slow Sunday afternoon thinking of Roy and Edith and wondered why we all missed them so much.

Watching the rain and the sun complete for supremacy I realised what it was – love.
We all want it, we all think that we have it at some point in our lives, but do we really have it?
Roy and Edith did; I wondered if I was going to be so lucky.

Part 2

2006-05-23T02:49:00.000-07:00

It was a really sunny day.
I was outside sitting on the garden path just enjoying the sun and thinking about what a wonderful day it was.

I had just had lunch with three men, my father, and two friends, Mr Fellani and Ken Atkinson. For some reason although they were good friends, Dad always called Mr Fellani just that and come to think of it so did many others in the town, I never got to know what his first name was.

Over lunch Ken started a conversation about food and in particular the worst but best meal he had ever had:
Ken told us of a time in the Western Desert a day or so after the battle of El Alamien.

"We had been fighting hard all day, our armored car had only stopped for more ammo and petrol. We had camped for the night near a German panzer group that we had been harassing all day. Not wanting to give our position away we were ordered to be quiet and were not allowed fires. It fell to me to make the evening meal. All I could find in the meager stores were some biscuits and condensed milk, so the crew and I had Marie biscuits and condensed milk washed down with trepid water for dinner. It was the best meal I had ever had, couldn't face it today though."

We all laughed and found it very funny then Mr Fellani spoke:

"I was fighting somewhere in Europe and was confined to a trench. The allies were throwing everything at us they could find; shells, mortars, machine guns, snipers, it was suicide just trying to see over the trench wall. The officers told us that we had to fight back, so we did. We took our rifles and held them over the top of the trench wall and high above our heads and emptied a few rounds in the general direction of the allies. This angered the allied soldiers and they threw even more stuff at us. We held the position for two days before being relieved. When we found our way behind the lines it was no better because we had no aircraft and the allies owned the skies. My friends and I found a basement and came across a stove. After some scrounging managed to find the makings of what you would call Macaroni cheese, it was burnt on the outside and the cheese sauce was terrible, but with a little bad wine and the quiet in the basement we found a little peace in the war."

My Dad spoke last and told of a bombing raid by Stuka dive bombers on the aerodrome his was based at:
"They hit us while we were trying to patch up an aircraft. The buildings were hit and we had been ordered to some trenches we had dug some days before, but the trenches were about 100 yards across an open ploughed field. We began to run across the open ground and then heard the sirens of the Stukas coming in to strafe the field. We ran for all we were worth and managed to get to the trenches unhurt but completely out of breath. After the raid we helped put the fires out and fixed the runway the best we could and then had our supper. It was cold toast from the morning with tea, it tasted good and we had not lost anyone that day."

The men became silent for a short time, each one lost in his own thoughts. Mr Fellani broke the silence and said; "I am glad we are friends", the men looked at each other and stood up and shook hands with each other and then began to laugh.

Was the sun brighter and warmer in the sixties? I can still feel the warmth of the sun on my body, the heat coming off the path and my little mongrel dog, sitting next to me watching the world go by.

All I could think of was that it was a really sunny day.

First off the block

2006-05-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well the world is turning round and round and round. Brad Pitt is ugly and his wife has a tatoo. So what's new that is really facinating, worth finding out about and will hold your attention for at least a day or a lifetime.
YOU! yes the one and only YOU!

Finding time to spend with yourself working on things that will improve your life, make you happier, healthier and more money productive, is hard to find. There always seems to be more and more demands on our time and money.

Well stand still for a moment.

What is so important that you have to go roaring off in some direction or other just to get there and have to go some where else?

Stop, think!

Why do I have to do this?
What will this do for my life?
Is this on my day planner?

We spend too much time running around doing things that other people can do for us, leaving us to be more productive and give us more time for the important things.

Consider: How much time do you spend doing housework?
If you spent that time productively earning an income how much money would you make.
As example: A cleaner costs $25 per hour, if you can make $100 per hour, then it means that you will have after paying the cleaner, $75 extra income.
Even if you only earn enough to break even, will the customer you spoke to bring you more business in the future?

I agree that not all circumstances are the same, but think of it this way, if someone else can do the menial tasks, then you are free to earn or finish off other tasks that are more pleasurable.

Give it a think, your future and sanity might depend on it.

Today is a good day to start,
Spencer Thomas-Gate