Ice Cream and Art Deco in the African 'Burbs

Yesterday I joined the Joburg Photowalkers on an architectural tour of two towns on the outskirts of Johannesburg: Benoni and Springs.

Benoni and Springs – east of Joburg in an area called ’the East Rand’ – are to Joburg what Frederick and Manassas are to Washington D.C., or what Hackensack is to New York City. They are small towns outside of big towns – places where people tend to live out of necessity, convenience, or habit, rather than for the culture or nightlife. In America we call these towns the outer suburbs, or more simply, the ‘burbs.

UMOJA!

Last weekend I was invited to attend a show called ‘Umoja: The Spirit of Togetherness’ at Joburg’s Victory Theatre in Houghton Estate. I’d heard it was a great show and had been invited more than once before, but somehow always found an excuse to miss it.

A Special 2Summers Photo

This afternoon I found myself browsing through an external hard drive of Jon’s. I came upon this photo.

2Summers enjoying coconut juice, straight from the source, at the Newtown Diwali Festival. (Photo courtesy of Jon/Joe.)

Land Rover on a Swazi Mountaintop

The day after Jon’s funeral, I said I wasn’t going to write about his death on my blog anymore.

That was crazy talk. I currently think about Jon for about 58 of every 60 minutes. How could I stop writing about him now?