EARLY ONE MORNING …

… I was driving along what has become a very familiar country road when I stopped to admire the sun being blocked by these clouds:

It took a little while to break free and in the meanwhile the surrounding dips and valleys were still filled with the mist that had left tiny droplets on the vegetation in the veld.

By now the soft light of the early morning sun was highlighting the grass and the different hues of green leaves on the trees. The road ahead looked inviting:

The still low sun casting tree shadows right across the gravel road. Those early morning clouds quickly dissipate into the soft blueness of the sky. It feels good to stop along this road now and then to listen to the different sounds of the singing birds, the snort of blesbuck, the distant baaing of sheep or the deep bellowing of cattle. Some flowers peep through the grass, spiderwebs still glisten with drops of dew, and there is a mantle of peace that draws me back to thinking about the people who tamed this land as best they could with what little they had, and how many of those early farms no longer grow crops but have been amalgamated to provide enough grazing for cattle, sheep or game. This old fence post bears testimony to the past: