We were driving along the US 1 from Florida Keys towards Miami when I spotted a sign saying "Psychic" Palm Reader, OPEN. My long-distance boyfriend spotted the sign too and I could see him giving me a side long glance partially hoping I hadn't noticed, but as I happen to know he also wanted to cheer me up he agreed when I squealed "Should I turn around and go back?!"
First of all it wasn't open. I'm not sure if she was doing it on purpose to sense whether she had customers or not, thereby honing her Psychic Skills, or if she had simply forgotten to change ithe sign. Either way after an expensive call routed from the USA to New Zealand and then back to the USA she agreed to be there in 5 minutes. And she was, so that was a good start.
She separated us and asked me hold a quartz stone in my right hand and make a wish. I had to tell her my wish shortly into to the reading, plus my date of birth, which obviously gave her clues and information that I was hoping to keep to myself. I sat sceptically thinking this is a big waste of my 75 Dollars. What could I be doing with it instead?
And then she told me things about myself that I know and like, things I know and hate to admit, and things that have not happened yet but don't mind if they do. She also gave me some really good solid relationship advice, that despite if she was really a psychic or not I am sure will come in handy regardless. I leaned in when she spoke quietly and took a deep breathe when she said things I didn't really want to hear. It was, well, kind of magical in a way.
Told to keep our readings a secret from any one for at least 10 days we drove on towards Miami where we both were to fly off into different directions, hoping to see each other again soon.I couldn't keep my reading to myself and blurted it all out. But my unbeliever of a boyfriend remained silent.
So far, pretty much everything she has said to each of us has slowly unfolded in our lives bringing us back together again in a very non long distance way. As time has gone on said boyfriend has revealed slowly but surely the things that she told him, as and when they happen or change our lives, or come to be. So here is the question then: Do we live our lives according to what people tell us, no matter who they may be? Do we act out words no matter who speaks them? Or do some people in this world really have a magical gift that enables to see what cannot quite see yet? I guess I'll have to keep looking back to see if she saw forward for us.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, November 8, 2010
Caught between a Rock and Shark Place
I finally found a couple of friends that happened to have no pressing plans for a week. We packed a car full of things like sunscreen, costumes and flip flops and headed down the coast for three days and roughly 2000 kilometers towards Cape Town. Potholes and bad driving aside, the perfect road trip had begun.
I'm pleased to report our Mother City has not changed much. Table mountain is still standing. You should still wear sunny day time clothes armed with an extra jumper, hold onto your caps and hats and take an umbrella and a camera with you wherever you go. Each day there will always be a ray of sunshine, a spot of rain, a gust of wind and something good to take a picture of.
What I hadn't bargained for was the complete calm and acceptance of the locals on the beach when the Shark Alarm casually sounded as I was about to dip my big toe into the decidedly chilly False Bay waters. At first I wasn't sure they meant it. No one seemed to be flailing around or running at speed to shore, they all just sort of moved in one big human wave, calmly but purposefully making their way out the ocean.
A white flag with a black shark was raised and every one nodded in silent agreement that yes, the sea was partially unsafe to be splashing around in for the time being. Everyone went back to reading, tanning and playing ball games as if nothing much had really happened so I was pleased that another non-local asked one of the Bay Watch style lifeguards what was going on.
I myself was certain that some one had accidently leant on the siren and caused a false alarm, becuase if this had happened any where else I have been in the world there would have been mayhem, people crowding around and trying to get a shot of the sea creature they had been swimming beside that was most definetley not your Friendly Flipper variety.
But no,the lifegaurd confirmed in her calm and people managing manner that there was nothing to worry about, they had (just) spotted a shark, very probably a great white and that as soon as the area was deemed clear we could all go back in.
Go back in!?
I wanted to take a picture of this typically Capetonian way of handling the amazing things that surround them. The magnificent mountains, the meeting of the two mighty oceans, baboons on the roadside and sweeping beaches as far as the eye can see. Vineyards that had been there for hundreds of years, sunsets from Chapmans Peak. Great Whites swimming amongst on their coastline.
All things most people stand and gape at, then reach into their bags and take a picture of. The Capetonians, they glance around them and accept that they live in the midst of so much beauty and natural wonder and then they sigh and go back to being chilled out.
So I decided to join them. I sat with my back to the mountains and kept my eyes on the waves. The only real picture I wanted to take that day turned out to be something that you could not really capture, so I left my camera in my bag and the picture will just have to remain in my mind.
I'm pleased to report our Mother City has not changed much. Table mountain is still standing. You should still wear sunny day time clothes armed with an extra jumper, hold onto your caps and hats and take an umbrella and a camera with you wherever you go. Each day there will always be a ray of sunshine, a spot of rain, a gust of wind and something good to take a picture of.
What I hadn't bargained for was the complete calm and acceptance of the locals on the beach when the Shark Alarm casually sounded as I was about to dip my big toe into the decidedly chilly False Bay waters. At first I wasn't sure they meant it. No one seemed to be flailing around or running at speed to shore, they all just sort of moved in one big human wave, calmly but purposefully making their way out the ocean.
A white flag with a black shark was raised and every one nodded in silent agreement that yes, the sea was partially unsafe to be splashing around in for the time being. Everyone went back to reading, tanning and playing ball games as if nothing much had really happened so I was pleased that another non-local asked one of the Bay Watch style lifeguards what was going on.
I myself was certain that some one had accidently leant on the siren and caused a false alarm, becuase if this had happened any where else I have been in the world there would have been mayhem, people crowding around and trying to get a shot of the sea creature they had been swimming beside that was most definetley not your Friendly Flipper variety.
But no,the lifegaurd confirmed in her calm and people managing manner that there was nothing to worry about, they had (just) spotted a shark, very probably a great white and that as soon as the area was deemed clear we could all go back in.
Go back in!?
I wanted to take a picture of this typically Capetonian way of handling the amazing things that surround them. The magnificent mountains, the meeting of the two mighty oceans, baboons on the roadside and sweeping beaches as far as the eye can see. Vineyards that had been there for hundreds of years, sunsets from Chapmans Peak. Great Whites swimming amongst on their coastline.
All things most people stand and gape at, then reach into their bags and take a picture of. The Capetonians, they glance around them and accept that they live in the midst of so much beauty and natural wonder and then they sigh and go back to being chilled out.
So I decided to join them. I sat with my back to the mountains and kept my eyes on the waves. The only real picture I wanted to take that day turned out to be something that you could not really capture, so I left my camera in my bag and the picture will just have to remain in my mind.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The Colours of Africa
It never changes. Everytime I jump on a plane to make a long distance trip these things are always true.
They serve you dinner an hour after making altitude no matter what god forsaken time it is
They never, ever, serve you enough wine
You wake up wishing you had forked out an extra grand or two to sit up front and not next to a complete stranger who is dribbling on your arm
Which brings me to Africa. South Africa to be presice, but Africa none the less. A nation trying so hard to put away the past, move forward, be more like Europe or the States in so many ways that it will eventually lose complete touch of what it started out as. Take our new local airport as an example. They moved a perfectly good, well functioning, well postioned airport to a location that promised to deliver so much more and be so much more efficient.
In the past when I flew into Durban International Aiport, which technically had not received international flights from around 1999 but that's besides the point, I used to to know I was Home. We flew down the mountain path and along the seaside and then we would step off the plane directly onto the tarmac and walk across into arrivals within nano-minutes.
Now, at the new improved spanky panky airport you fly over a bunch of green hills which are perfectly nice but quite uninspiring, and directly into a tunnel attachment that leads you into a massive building with not much in it. The place is deserted. No more crowds of people waiting to see their loved ones, no more buzz, no more heat steaming up off the tarmac.
I'm not sure how much more efficient this new airport has turned out to be, but I do know that while the trip home remains the same, this unchanged hum drum of long distance travel, the end result of haphazard typical African simplicity has gone forever.
I hope that while this wonderful country strives to be more 1st world every day it breathes another breath of sunshine, it doesnt lose its colours. Those wonderful coulours of africa. Those little things that aren't perfect but they make us who we are. A patchwork design of some many things unique to us, all sewn together to make a great big colourful nation. Viva Africa!
They serve you dinner an hour after making altitude no matter what god forsaken time it is
They never, ever, serve you enough wine
You wake up wishing you had forked out an extra grand or two to sit up front and not next to a complete stranger who is dribbling on your arm
Which brings me to Africa. South Africa to be presice, but Africa none the less. A nation trying so hard to put away the past, move forward, be more like Europe or the States in so many ways that it will eventually lose complete touch of what it started out as. Take our new local airport as an example. They moved a perfectly good, well functioning, well postioned airport to a location that promised to deliver so much more and be so much more efficient.
In the past when I flew into Durban International Aiport, which technically had not received international flights from around 1999 but that's besides the point, I used to to know I was Home. We flew down the mountain path and along the seaside and then we would step off the plane directly onto the tarmac and walk across into arrivals within nano-minutes.
Now, at the new improved spanky panky airport you fly over a bunch of green hills which are perfectly nice but quite uninspiring, and directly into a tunnel attachment that leads you into a massive building with not much in it. The place is deserted. No more crowds of people waiting to see their loved ones, no more buzz, no more heat steaming up off the tarmac.
I'm not sure how much more efficient this new airport has turned out to be, but I do know that while the trip home remains the same, this unchanged hum drum of long distance travel, the end result of haphazard typical African simplicity has gone forever.
I hope that while this wonderful country strives to be more 1st world every day it breathes another breath of sunshine, it doesnt lose its colours. Those wonderful coulours of africa. Those little things that aren't perfect but they make us who we are. A patchwork design of some many things unique to us, all sewn together to make a great big colourful nation. Viva Africa!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Switzerland is not alway Neutral
I always thought that Switzerland was neutral. Not true. In my case it has posed a dilemna for me for the past two weeks and now that I have made a decision I'm not entirely sure its the right one. Time will tell, which is ironic, considering their watch making skills.
I've always been a pro's and con's type of girl. My mother played devils advocate so much when I was growing up that I now,
1.cant make a decision without overthinking every last detail to the point of nausea and
2.hate making decisions so much because I cant face the process involved so I end up blocking them out of my conscience until the very last minute. At which point it is either too late or a mad rush.
My mad rush this week involves me dashing off to the shops to buy a pair of boots and some woolie clothes to get me through a weekend in 6 degrees celcius. Im not really sure how woolie I need to go either, coming form a sub tropical home town in South Africa. I only really know how to dress for humid, hot and a swimming pool.
But back to Switzerland. It was for me once the epitomny of neutral... war, bank accounts, the never accepting the Euro. These last two weeks its been more about, do I go and see someone who I have always sort of fitted into my social life through other people. You see there always seems to have been other friends around when we see each other. So its easy. You drink, be merry and if you find yourself in the occassional pash on the dance floor, so be it.
But now, now its just him and I. One on one. At his family's home. It wasn't intended that way. It was meant to be with two other mutal friends of ours, his brother and girlfriend who I have known for years. But in yachting things change and they cant be there. So here is my question: Do you have the same relationship with someone you know through other people when you are not with those other people? Or will it all go pear shaped? Maybe it will just be something Completly Neutral. I'll let you know.
I've always been a pro's and con's type of girl. My mother played devils advocate so much when I was growing up that I now,
1.cant make a decision without overthinking every last detail to the point of nausea and
2.hate making decisions so much because I cant face the process involved so I end up blocking them out of my conscience until the very last minute. At which point it is either too late or a mad rush.
My mad rush this week involves me dashing off to the shops to buy a pair of boots and some woolie clothes to get me through a weekend in 6 degrees celcius. Im not really sure how woolie I need to go either, coming form a sub tropical home town in South Africa. I only really know how to dress for humid, hot and a swimming pool.
But back to Switzerland. It was for me once the epitomny of neutral... war, bank accounts, the never accepting the Euro. These last two weeks its been more about, do I go and see someone who I have always sort of fitted into my social life through other people. You see there always seems to have been other friends around when we see each other. So its easy. You drink, be merry and if you find yourself in the occassional pash on the dance floor, so be it.
But now, now its just him and I. One on one. At his family's home. It wasn't intended that way. It was meant to be with two other mutal friends of ours, his brother and girlfriend who I have known for years. But in yachting things change and they cant be there. So here is my question: Do you have the same relationship with someone you know through other people when you are not with those other people? Or will it all go pear shaped? Maybe it will just be something Completly Neutral. I'll let you know.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Just a moment
Its funny I was sitting on the bow of my boat yesterday evening talking to someone about fate. Timing. Small decisions you make that somehow change or mould the rest of your existence and sometimes you know youre making them and other times you don't
When I woke up this morning it was pouring with rain. So much rain and so hard it appears to have challenged a few of the older buildings in the small town where we are based right now. I'll tell you the truth, I was trying to sneak in to my apartment without being spotted. I was wearing the same clothes that I was in when I had the fate conversation, which turned out to be a longer conversation than originally planned, with some one who does happen to believe in it and also rolls an amazing joint. But I digress. I openned the door to the communal hallway and heard voices, voices I didnt want to hear as they belonged to the very people I was trying to sneak past. After an anagonising moment of deciding whether to hide in the corner near the well (its an old building, yes we do actually have a well) or slip out the door again into the pouring rain I went for the door. It turns out that moment may have saved my life. As I put the key in the door for the second time this morning an enormous piece of concrete came crashing down and covered the very spot I was walking on 5 seconds before. It was just a moment, and I'm aware of it, but my question is this. How many moments do we take in life that we arent aware of, moments they may have changed the course of our life and yet we will never know. Avoiding and accident, seeing an old friend, meeting someone new, all things that if we had left a moment sooner or later may not have happened. I guess we'll never know, so I've just decided to put it all down to Fate.
When I woke up this morning it was pouring with rain. So much rain and so hard it appears to have challenged a few of the older buildings in the small town where we are based right now. I'll tell you the truth, I was trying to sneak in to my apartment without being spotted. I was wearing the same clothes that I was in when I had the fate conversation, which turned out to be a longer conversation than originally planned, with some one who does happen to believe in it and also rolls an amazing joint. But I digress. I openned the door to the communal hallway and heard voices, voices I didnt want to hear as they belonged to the very people I was trying to sneak past. After an anagonising moment of deciding whether to hide in the corner near the well (its an old building, yes we do actually have a well) or slip out the door again into the pouring rain I went for the door. It turns out that moment may have saved my life. As I put the key in the door for the second time this morning an enormous piece of concrete came crashing down and covered the very spot I was walking on 5 seconds before. It was just a moment, and I'm aware of it, but my question is this. How many moments do we take in life that we arent aware of, moments they may have changed the course of our life and yet we will never know. Avoiding and accident, seeing an old friend, meeting someone new, all things that if we had left a moment sooner or later may not have happened. I guess we'll never know, so I've just decided to put it all down to Fate.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The little black sheep amongst us
When I was a little girl I had a List. I had a List of the all the things that my future dream husband was going to be and do and look like. I hid it under my parquet floorboards in my very 80's bedroom for a while and must have changed hiding places over the years as when I went back to look for it a few years ago it was gone.
And so it seems have all the good men!
No, thats a lie. There are good men around... There are funny, good looking, hardworking, kind, generous men everywhere. Theyre all just about 6- 10 years younger than me and when they find out how Ancient I am, it seems all bets are off, unless its just a one night stand youre looking for that is, which call me old fashioned, but I'm not.
Yes, Im being punished for being the little black sheep in the family. Instead of marriage, house and kids I went to sea when I was 22 , travelling and working and having the best 12 years of my life, but somehwere in those 12 years it seemd I have exchanged one dream for another. I have got to see pretty much most countries in this crazy world we live in, expereince so many different cultures I sometimes can't remember where I did what and with who. But what are these things if at the end of it you dont have anyone to share your memories with? Was it worth it??? Damn straight it was....I'll just have to keep hoping that some where on this planet there's another little black sheep out there. And according to The List the most important thing is he better make me laugh...............I'll need it when Im 90 and wheeling myself down the aisle.
Here's to accepting who we are,even if the young ones dont get it.
And so it seems have all the good men!
No, thats a lie. There are good men around... There are funny, good looking, hardworking, kind, generous men everywhere. Theyre all just about 6- 10 years younger than me and when they find out how Ancient I am, it seems all bets are off, unless its just a one night stand youre looking for that is, which call me old fashioned, but I'm not.
Yes, Im being punished for being the little black sheep in the family. Instead of marriage, house and kids I went to sea when I was 22 , travelling and working and having the best 12 years of my life, but somehwere in those 12 years it seemd I have exchanged one dream for another. I have got to see pretty much most countries in this crazy world we live in, expereince so many different cultures I sometimes can't remember where I did what and with who. But what are these things if at the end of it you dont have anyone to share your memories with? Was it worth it??? Damn straight it was....I'll just have to keep hoping that some where on this planet there's another little black sheep out there. And according to The List the most important thing is he better make me laugh...............I'll need it when Im 90 and wheeling myself down the aisle.
Here's to accepting who we are,even if the young ones dont get it.
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