Worldly wealth is the Devil's bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores ...

Worldly wealth is the Devil's bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores increase, as the moon, when she is fullest, is farthest from the sun.



This morning, as I went outside for the first time I noticed a strange effect of light. It was softer than the weekends burning sun. Softer and with a kind of shadow that gave me an eerie feeling that I enjoyed. Obviously I looked skyward to check out what was happening? I thought perhaps it was a fire that was blocking some of the morning light, but there was no smell or bank of smoke. Still the unfamiliar light was working on my senses which were not quite sure what to make of it all. Was there a natural disaster pending? It might have been a dragon flying acorss the sun, but I have not seem one for ages. I think I started tapping into the way people of ancient times must have felt when something happened that they were not expecting and that they had no control over or knowledge of.

You see out DSTV has been bust for a week or so now and my laptop in for repairs. I don't buy newspapers really, neither do I listen to the local wireless (I would like to but I have yet to find a Disc Jokey that I can stomach for more than a few minutes. I still have to resort to audio streaming so get a dose of the brilliant Johny Vaughen from Capital FM in London a few times a week)so basically I have been out of the target zone that the peddlars of information make use of to ply their trade.

If I had been more in touch I would probably have known that I was experiencing a partial eclipse of the sun. But I was not so I just sat there staring at the strange blueness waiting for the dragons to appear or a swarm of locusts the evelop the city bowl in unprecendented numbers never before seen in these parts since Kaizer Chiefs played Ajax in the BP Cup soccer finals.

Eventually the answer was provided to me from an unlikely source. The Pikey neighbour lady from next door was standing on her death trap rickety rotten wood deck that hangs half way over the road forming some sort of car port as well as a place to grow desert cactus, place a windmill and gall the while giving those driving down Buitenkant Street a cheeky little bridge to pop under and out of if the wind was blowing in the right direction.
So Pikey lady in Bikini top from the 1924 Elle spring Catalogue and Judron rugby shorts covering the bottoms, is balancing on the precarious wooden structure with a pint and cigarette in one hand sunglasses on and a welding mask in front of her eyes, brazenly staring directly at the sun and the partial block that the moon had on it at the time. She knew about the Eclipse it seems and began educating all those that were in earshot, which for her was double the amount due to some drunken 8am vision. I knew better than to look directly at the sun, but I dicided that as I turned on my heal to head back inside, I would take my chances with the sun rather than risk turning to stone for looking directly and scary Pikey women.