When you read this column I shall be far away from the busy city, relaxing on the family’s sheep farm in the Karoo.
I’ve been looking forward to this break for months.
You may wonder why a retired journalist like me should feel the need for a break.
It’s not as if I have to get up early to endure a crowded commute to work every morning, or rush to meet urgent deadlines or attend important meetings, notebook in hand.
I opted out of all that hassle when I retired several years ago. I now sit in my garden and watch the kayaks and cormorants in the bay in front of my house.
So why should I feel the need for a break, you might ask (but probably won’t because you have hassles of your own to care about).
I’ll tell you in a word. Politicians.
Here in my little paradise by the sea I share my space and time with a lovely friend, two sleepy cats and three almost tame rock doves.
All would be peace and harmony if it were not for the current infestation of politicians.
Like irritating flies they buzz about my head all day. They leer at me from newspaper pages, grin at me from the TV set and gabble nonsense from the internet.
None of them seems the slightest bit interested in improving the country or making life more pleasant for South Africans.
Their only aim seems to be to make life as unpleasant as possible for other politicians.
They demand resignations, bring on ugly lawsuits against each other and squabble like a bunch of petulant piglets with a lump of porridge.
Well I’m taking a break. I plan to sit in the shade watching sheep graze without fighting for each blade of grass.
I want to see the sheepdogs working together as a team to round up the flock. I want to see the herd of peaceful cows ambling home to be milked at the end of the day without jostling for position or biting each other.
Electronic contact is intermittent up there. There’s often no internet or wifi. Even the telephone has its grumpy moments.
What I crave is a few days completely free if the nastiness of politics. There, in the peaceful Karoo I just might restore my faith in the basic goodness of the world.
Last Laugh
The police patrol man radioed the police station and said: “I have an interesting case here, Sarge.
“A woman just shot her husband because he walked on her recently mopped floor.”
“Did you arrest her?” Asked the sergeant. “No sir. The floor’s still wet.”
* "Tavern of the Seas" is a column written in the Cape Argus by David Biggs. Biggs can be contacted at [email protected]
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Cape Argus