His real name was Jon. He was a gifted photographer. He was sensitive, intelligent, opinionated, and loyal. He had green-gold eyes and a mischievous smile. He was my best friend. We loved each other as much as two people are capable of loving. I can’t fathom a world without him in it.

I’m moving out of my house, the Lucky 5 Star, at the end of this month. I’m not happy about it. I bemoan my impending move to anyone who will listen.

My oldest, dearest friend Claire got married yesterday. (You might remember Claire from my tattoo post.) Happily for Claire, but unhappily for me, the wedding was in Kona, Hawaii – possibly the furthest location from Johannesburg on this earth. I coudn’t go. Sniff.

I was away from the Lucky 5 Star for most of November. I think the Melville Cat was annoyed by my absence. He hardly gave me the time of day for the first week I was back.

As long as I’ve lived here, the view from the deck at the Lucky 5 Star has been a wall of green. It was one of my favorite things about the house – the back yard felt like a private jungle, filled with unruly indigenous plants and flowering creepers (the creepers are pretty, but invasive).

This post was supposed to be about a photowalk. Most of you know that I’m part of the Joburg Photowalkers; last Saturday we did a walk around St. John’s College, the oldest prep school in Jozi. It’s a beautiful campus – very Dead Poets Society. It was a lovely place to explore and I enjoyed it.