If you’re new to this blog series and don’t know what’s happening with South Africa’s 21-day (now 35-day) lockdown, my first post has all the details. Or read all my lockdown posts.
It’s Day 25 of lockdown. I bring you yet another garden flower.
“Monday” is a very uncreative post name but it’s all I can come up with.
I feel more down than usual, because it’s Monday but also because I’m finding it hard not to dwell on the fact that there is no end in sight to this situation. I won’t bore you with the intricacies of my anxiety and fear – I’m sure it’s much the same as yours. But it’s fucking difficult.
I made brownies today, which was fun, but they didn’t turn out right because there was something wrong with the butter I bought. This makes me very annoyed. I usually never do this but I’m going to take the second butter block I bought (which also smells weird) back to the shop tomorrow and complain. Wasting (expensive) butter is just too sad right now.
In other news, I came across this old picture of of myself while working on my never-ending photo archiving project. Jon shot it while we were in Hogsback, during an extended road trip through the Eastern Cape, in 2011. I really like it.
I just remembered that if the pandemic hadn’t happened I would be road-tripping through the Eastern Cape right now. Today I should have been on my way to Bathurst, which would have been the fifth town in my #10SouthAfricanTowns project. I’m sad about this, too.
But in the grand scheme of things, bad butter and missed road trips are pretty small problems to have at the moment. So I’ll leave it at that.
On a much brighter note, I’m excited to show you some stunning photos by my photographer friend Mark Straw.
Mark is the founder of the Joburg Photowalkers, which I blogged about extensively in the early days of 2Summers. (Here’s a post about my first-ever Joburg photowalk in Hillbrow in 2011.)
The Photowalkers obviously aren’t able to go out and walk around the city taking pictures, as they normally do. So they’ve been participating in daily at-home photography challenges during the lockdown.
In Mark’s words:
“I’ve been taking photographs at home every day as part of two photographic lockdown challenges. There is a lot of community spirit with all the photographers partaking on the various online groups.
“A few themes we’ve had to photograph include: ‘Books’; ‘Fruit’; ‘Whats in the fridge’; ‘Mirror’; and ‘Pattern’. Yesterday’s theme was ‘Something Frozen’.
“I froze flowers in the freezer on Sunday night to photograph the creations in the morning. They were inspired by beautiful land art by Erica Lüttich, which I have photographed at numerous Jozi Land Art events.”
I saw Mark’s “frozen” photos on Facebook and they immediately brightened my day.
I don’t know if I’ll do as good a job as Mark did, but I’m totally going to try the frozen flower project later this week. I’m running out of basic flower photos and this seems like a great twist.
If you’re keen to get involved in a daily photo challenge, here are bunch of Mark’s suggestions:
Joburg Photowalkers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/710081799017014/
Foto Fanatix: https://www.facebook.com/groups/257666824262052/
Photo Factor Photography Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/photofactorclub/
Rietvlei Nature Reserve: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rietvleinaturereserve/
JoburgPlaces is now offering virtual storytelling evenings.
I’ve written about JoburgPlaces, a walking tour company/events venue in downtown Joburg, many times. Gerald and Charlie are both great storytellers – they describe Joburg’s crazy history in such an engaging, digestible way. And while it’s a bummer we won’t be able to hear those stories in person for a while, virtual storytelling is the next best thing.
A couple of months ago I would never have considered paying money to log on and watch an event/concert/storytelling performance online. But I did exactly that last Saturday night (not with JoburgPlaces – it was a live podcast called Risk!) and it was surprisingly enjoyable. It’s amazing how we change when we have to.
Learn everything you need to know about JoburgPlaces virtual storytelling here.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.