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A Bloody Good Day in June '06 |
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June 14, 2006
The rain is coming. You can tell by the crispness of the still air; the calmness of the sea; the absence of any sign of cloud.
Also by reading the official forecast: "Sunday and Monday. Rain. Likelihood, 80 percent", it promises.
These long sequences of still sunny days, followed by short, energetic bursts of storms, wind and rain, are what make winter so beautiful here.
I write this reminder, not because it is necessary, but because I want to leave for myself one memory of this day. It is of the aloes, taller than usual this year - and more numerous on the cliff path than I have ever seen them. They stand like outposts of spears among the fynbos.
The winter sun's rays glance their sides, illuminating the spears at an angle that turns them into hot flames - orange and red. Transforming them, in the dying hours of day, into blades of gold tipped with blood.
The first of this year's visiting Right Whales - three of them, over towards Die Plaat - were observed today.
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