Apr
25
Changing the Seasons
Filed Under Training Adventures
If there was one power I have always wished to have, it is the power to change the seasons. I hate winter! This past week, the changing of the seasons occured in more than one sense in South Africa….
On Monday, it was summer at 26 deg, on Tuesday I was suddenly huddled under a duvet, shivering and very grumpy – winter arrived, the wind was howling and the temperature was an icy 18 deg! I am the first to admit that the thought of being cold terrifies me, probably due to my overprotective mother insisting that I take a jersey everywhere, not go out with wet hair and make sure that I put shoes on – in Africa!
The start of winter, for me, always brings on a state of denial. I refuse to bring out all my winter gear from the rear of the closet, for fear of admitting that winter has indeed arrived, so I take out just one long-sleeve as a ‘temporary’ measure against an equally ‘temporary’ wind chill. I go out, freeze, and have to spend 20 minutes under a hot shower :-(. Then you get the folks who say, ‘If you dress accordingly you won’t feel a thing’. This has never worked for me, I fill an entire washing machine with one ride’s worth of clothes and something was still cold? Yes, you got it! I am a complete cold weather grump and there is very little that will cheer me up other than a 10th mug of hot chocolate….. Roll on Swiss summer!!!
This week saw another significant change here in SA, it was our national election week! Wednesday was a great day! It was declared a special holiday for everyone to vote (and for Triathletes to ride their bikes in the middle of the day with very little traffic ;-). Below is a picture of my special hero, Nelson Mandela, who at the age of 92 still has a smile on his face and is happy to greet the common people:
People turned out in their droves to vote, we queued for hours, chatted and laughed while waiting looking at clearly enthusiastic supporters:
The election was once again won by the ruling party, the ANC, and this guy on the poster will be our new President:
So, Mr Zuma, I hope that you will recognise that AIDS does exist, jobs need to be created for the 40% unemployed and that there is indeed a crisis in Zimbabwe…
Seasons change but so must attitudes.