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www.thevillagenews.co.za
9 September 2020
FROM THE EDITOR
Nurturing nature and the arts The next edition of The Village NEWS will be available on 16 September 2020. The NEWS can be found at over 300 distribution points in the Overberg.
De Waal Steyn PUBLISHING EDITOR E: dewaal@thevillagenews.co.za T: 083 700 3319
Hedda Mittner
Long, long ago, when the world was new and early man roamed the African savannah, both predator and prey, he was entirely dependent on the circumstances and vagaries of his natural environment. Eventually he learnt that if he was to survive, he would have to overcome the obstacles and become the hunter more frequently than the hunted. There was something that made him different from most other animals: he realised that he lived in a physical as well as a spirit world and that somehow the two were connected. To survive, you had to have
CONTENT EDITOR E: hedda@thevillagenews.co.za T: 083 645 3928
Raphael da Silva
Sugar & Spice
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Nickey Jackson
access to both worlds. So, while he was developing more effective hunting tools, he was also trying to understand this duality. He started to paint on the walls of the caves where he slept, honouring the spirits of the animals which gave him life, and at night he and his family sang and danced in the light of the moon.
Fast forward to 2020. The Coronavirus pandemic has taught us many things, but lockdown has thrown into sharp focus just how separated we have become from both the natural world and the world of tangible art. And how necessary they remain for our continued survival.
One of the things we longed for most when we were locked in was to get into the mountains and the They related stories about how they sea and to have physical contact with not only other humans, but all had come to be on the earth and living beings. to affirm their humanity. And the stories and the music were passed In the Overstrand we have been from one generation to another as given a unique opportunity to an important reminder of what it renew our connection with the took to survive…
worlds of nature and the spirit and to tell our stories to those less privileged. We are surrounded by bountiful examples of unspoilt nature on land and in the ocean and, importantly, passionate individuals who are committed to their protection. Similarly, we have been blessed with access to an array of visual and performance artists second to none. Perhaps there has never been a better time and place to nurture what we have been given and to pass the gift on.
This is the good NEWS – Ed
The eternal search for… stuff dred steps in. I've never managed to reach the magical 10 000 steps a day. Apparently it only counts when the step-counter App thingy on your phone records it. Unfortunately I have no idea where my phone is.
By Hélène Truter
W
-h-a-t?! Are you grunting or talking? Huh? Never mind. Where are you?! This has been carrying on in our home for some time now. And I'm not talking about a few hours – it's been a couple of years. The standard morning ritual. When you buy your dream double-storey house, the last thing you consider is that one day you and your partner will be screaming non-sensical phrases at each other. However, we're in deep, deep denial. There's nothing wrong with our hearing. He says I mumble; I accuse him of bad diction. And of course the house is far too big. It's highly frustrating walking from one end to the other, trying to find each other; then up and down those pesky stairs. And once at the bottom, you've completely forgotten why you're there. On the upside, at least I'm getting a couple of hun-
My husband uses the dreaded 'O' word. Maybe we're getting Old? I pretend not to hear him. Stop mumbling darling. That's the best I can come up with. Alas. Who are we fooling? Only last week, or was it the week before that... Never mind when. I was carrying a truckload of shopping bags. A handsome stranger offered to help. I was quite flattered, until the little upstart called me Tannie and suggested that maybe I should park in the space reserved for the Elderly. The ‘E’ word is just as bad as the ‘O’ word. It's okay to be regarded elderly when you're 90-plus. I'm so not ready for that label. Please, not now. Not for the next 40 years at least. If Cher can do it, so can I. And no, I'm not going to divulge my age. Every morning as I gingerly toddle off to the bathroom, I keep reminding myself of a friend's pearl of wisdom.
“If it doesn't hurt in the morning, then you're dead.” Okay, some good news: I'm alive then. Alive but grumpy. The elderly Tannie is not a morning person. Percy is too deur die mis to be in any kind of mood. The only morning creature is our enthusiastic Lab who happily wags her tail when she spots me staring out the window with bleary eyes, trying to figure out what kind of day it is. Useless exercise, really. I don't have my glasses. And I have no idea where I put them. No point in asking Percy; he can't speak human before he's gone through his morning bathroom routine. After his second cup of coffee I start slowly, with an easy question: Sleep well? Silence. I'm about to repeat myself when he unexpectedly grunts: Huh? Okidoki, we're having that conversation again. The other thing that I keep on losing these days, besides my sense of humour, is my mask! I've had several, and all have mysteriously disappeared. Ah! Maybe in the bottom of my handbag. Which of course I can't find either. It's such an epic, I might as well stay home today. Oops. No can do. I have a shop to run.
Finally, I'm masked and wearing a pair of old reading glasses that I dug up somewhere. Now the battle of the mask and the specs starts. The mask causes the glasses to steam up. Can't see. Take glasses off. Okay, breathing is easier. But my vision is still a bit blurred. Hello, because you're not wearing your glasses, Tannie. Where the hell did I put them? Eish. The search is fruitless. Not for the first time in my life, I head for the chemist to buy yet another pair of cheap reading glasses. As a teenager we would go visit my grandparents who had long since retired. The oldies seemed to just aimlessly wander around the house not doing much. I actually felt sorry for them. Oupa, what do you and Ouma do all day? He looked at me earnestly: My kind, ons soek. What are you searching for – happiness, meaning? Nope. Goeters, stuff. All the time. I finally get it. When you stop searching, that's when you should start worrying. As I'm working on my laptop I can see my battery is running low. I'd better go search for my charger. Quickly.
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