In Winter, "Jozi" is at its most benign. The grumble of summer clouds has long gone and the crispness of the Highveld's cooler months puts new meaning into the words "chilling out".
This is the time of the year when everyone marvels at the sky awash with blue and the foliage adorned in gold. It's a time when visitors and residents alike enjoy stepping out briskly into the bracing air.
Jozi's city parks are a natural draw and let's doff our beanies for a moment to the fine work undertaken by the city's parks and gardens department.
Those urban lungs take a lot of looking after and it would help enormously if everyone played by the rules and gave litter louts a stern dressing down. It's heartening to see "Jozi" putting on a fine display of friendliness, helpfulness, and pride when welcoming fans of the "beautiful game" into our midst.
Yes, there are the undesirables out there who see the World Cup as a wonderful opportunity to improve their finances at the expense of our foreign guests but pray that such incidents will be minor.
After all, that urban blight plagues most cities of the world. It's the way things are on this planet and our politzei are on a 24/7 alert. But as citizens of a great African city, we have lots to brag about, especially now.
A surfeit of soccer is within easy reach at Soccer City and Coca-Cola Park - previously Ellis Park. The famous Loftus Versfeld is in Pretoria, and further afield are the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, the Peter Mokaba Stadium at Polokwane up the north road and Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, out to the east. (Remember your ear plugs). Gauteng scores!
What's more, we now have a whisper-quiet 21st century rapid transport system whisking visitors in 15 minutes of delight from OR Tambo to Sandton - the Gautrain. What a pleasure. We're really growing as a city. For those enjoying their years of wisdom and a once-in-a-lifetime soccer "jol", it's time to "boot up" the body, give the limbs a shake down, and go urban hiking.
Safe? Of course! If you're a little nervous, take your rottweilers with you, but I've never found the need to have a canine at my side.
The joy of advancing years is that folk expect you to be a little eccentric, so I indulge in "over the garden wall" chats with amiable folk tending their gardens, handing out words of encouragement to a pavement artist, exchanging some patter with the "pompies" and flagging down a flag seller. Safe and serene. Yes, it is possible, in my suburb at least. You see more when you're on two feet rather than four wheels. Besides giving an ageing heart some work to do - something that makes any cardiologist beam - walking regularly has other advantages in Jozi.
Besides flushing the mind of dross, there's time to shuffle priorities, write a best seller on the table of the mind, or just put the brain into neutral without feeling guilty about it. While winter shades can remind you that your visit to this planet is temporary, the beauty of nature in a final show of grandeur before going into its deep mid-year slumber is something like a supernova blasting forth in the infinity of the cosmos. Dramatic beauty before the inevitable demise.
And when stepping it out, you come across so much that is unique about Jozi. You might have a close shave when crossing a busy road but how about a short-back-and-sides at an alfresco barber? Always open for business. You could call it a "sidewalk salon" and service is always with a smile. Simply charming and the air conditioning is splendid.
And for afters, duck into a nearby tea parlour for the cup that cheers with a scone or two to restore energy for another couple of kilometres.
Mid-winter in Jozi? Wunderbar, magnifico, marivilosa, first rate mate... the lilting flow of languages in the mall these days is a joy to hear. You get a different perspective on your city and country.
What a grand opportunity this World Cup is to throw one's chest out and talk up the land we live in.
The stimulation and pleasures of long-distance travel are a given but hold on, have you discovered the simple joys in Jozi's very own back yard?
Skeletons of early humankind are one thing, but why not experience, with new-found friends, the chill of an invigorating dawn as you take a hot-air balloon flight over the Magaliesberg, a hike in the hills of Suikerbosrand, an arts and crafts fair, a generous lunch in Orlando, the exhilaration of a fan park in full blast?
Or just the opportunity to stir the mind while enjoying a suburban stroll in the crisp air of a Highveld winter. And do what Jozi's famous for. Extend a warm hand of friendship to the world.