It's raining in Cape Town

It's raining in Cape Town

Cape Town has been experiencing drought conditions for months.

Water restrictions have been stringently applied and gardeners are limited to watering their gardens for half an hour once per week.

To make the restrictions even stiffer the authorities have upped the price of our water to make up for the losses they will incur due to consumers using less water.

That can only happen here!

More for less!

Over the past months Cape Town has been praying for rain.

The clouds build up and everybody thinks “ Here comes some relief” and lo and behold the wind changes to the south east and the clouds blow away.

A few hours later we hear on the news that its raining along the Mossel bay coastline and they are having floods.

Last week we had a smidgen of rain over our suburb.

It was just enough to turn the dust on our cars to mud.

The ground is dry and dusty and many people who do not have their own pumps have no gardens left.

Filling swimming pools is also a problem as the heat and the strong south east winds take two inches of water off the top each day.

Its just a vicious circle with the situation getting no better.

What has caused the drought?

Experts say its “ El Nino “ which is a warm current in the Pacific which has an effect on the world's weather patterns.

I just wish it would return to normal so that we can get our normal rainfall.

Hooray! it's good news at last!

Last night a cold front moved in over Cape Town and a reasonably heavy shower fell at about 9.00pm.

Have you experienced the smell of rain on a dry hot earth.

It's GLORIUS!

It makes you feel happy and good inside!

When the rain started to fall that smell permeated the air and anybody who had been longing for rain was over the moon.

Unfortunately we only had a short shower and then the clouds parted and the full moon came out in its full glory.

This morning anybody who had grieved that the clouds had parted would have been more than happy.

They were back and it was raining.

Not hard rain that would cause floods but a steady drizzle that soaks into the ground and enlivens the earth.

When this type of weather sets in in Cape Town it rains for days on end.

Weather forecasters have been saying that its going to clear up but its already lunch time and its still raining.

Lets hope it stays for a whole week and fills our empty dams and rivers and enables our farmers in the drought stricken areas north of Cape Town to plant their crops.

I'm sure there are many happy people today even if many of them got wet going to work this morning.

To find out more about Cape Town read

Turtle Essays edition no 119

online now!

See you all soon!

Geoff Fairman

The South African Test Series against England

Since shortly before Christmas the South African team has ben doing battle against the English.

The test matches have ebbed and flowed over every test played so far making the cricket very interesting to watch.

There however have been a number of decisions made by the umpires that have had a marked effect on which side has won or lost the test.

Of course when the cricketers have anything to say about them they find themselves in trouble with the cricket authorities and end up losing their match fees.

The match referees have become quite ridiculous with some of their decisions with regards to players actions when being given out.

Bowlers work extremely hard in the hot sun to take wickets and often get the opposition batsmen plum in front or caught off a thick edge and the umpires give the batsmen NOT OUT.

When the bowler shows his disappointment he ends up on the red carpet in front of the match referee.

Often the opposite happens with the batsmen.

They get nowhere near the ball with their bats and get given out caught.

Any gesture towards the umpire intimating that they never touched the ball ends up with a fine.

Cricket in my opinion is a game of emotions and working on the nerves of opposition players is very much part of the game.

Why do players get punished for what they have been trained to do.

It's so funny that bowlers can bowl at and hit the opposition batsmen on the head or body with a very hard ball which can do serious injury but cannot pull faces and make comments to upset the opposition.

There is a moral problem that has crept into the game over the last few years and that is the dishonesty of players and officials.

Batsmen who hit the ball and get caught do not walk and sometimes get away with their dishonesty.

Slip catchers often pick up catches that have bounced and then appeal for a catch.

Even umpires sometimes do not give players out when in fact they are.

Commentators belabour the fact that we have technology so why can it not be used for most of the decisions especially those where there is a bit of doubt.

In circumstances where a player is given out and has left the field and it is found that the umpire has erred in his decision, the player should be reinstated and returned to the field at the fall of the next wicket.

Of course the fielding captain and the umpires should be immediately advised that the decision is under scrutiny and advised of whatever decision is made as soon as possible thereafter.

This will have a marked effect on the game as no captain will want a player to come back once given out.

The captain himself will then have the option of requesting the player given out to remain on the field until the decision has been checked.

The batsmen will also have the chance of walking if he feels he is out even if given NOT OUT by the umpire.

A bonus system can be introduced for players who display honesty and fines can be introduced for players who go against the spirit of the game.

Cricket is a mans game and should not be regulated to produce a bunch of sissies who cannot stand up for themselves!

In the old days bowlers bowled beamers at batsmen without helmets and how many of them were hit on the head.

Today most batsmen hide behind the one bouncer per over rule and I suspect this causes much frustration for the bowler who has part of his armoury removed.

Lets get back to the old type of cricket and monitor the decisions with technology if need be.

Geoff Fairman

Turtle Essays Ezine on Cape Town road users is now online.
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Cape Town Road users

Turtle Essay's New Year Ramblings

Hi there folks!

I thought that I would remind you that I still exist.

As its 2005 I would like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year and may all your hopes and dreams come true.

My wife and I after spending Christmas at home just had to get away for a couple of days so went off to Yzerfontein on the West Coast for a break.

We had a lovely relaxing week and have come back refreshed and raring to go.

Unfortunately the fishing down at Yzerfontien was not too good.

Tides were high due to the new moon and the spring tide and the water was cold which seems to stop the fish from biting.

Sitting on the rocks and watching the big waves roll in and hammer the coastline took my thoughts to Indonesia and the terrible tragedy that has occurred there.

My heart goes out to all the people who have experienced losses of family, friends and possessions.

May a tsunami never hit Cape Town!

The power of water is amazing but so is that of the internet.

My daughter in her own small way contributed to the reuniting of a small boy who was a victim of the tsunami with his family.

She received an email with a photo of a child who had lost his parents. and decided to place the photo on a SA Teen website that she regularly visits.

Someone in the UK saw the photo and happened to know the boy and contacted his parents.

The end of this story was a happy one and the family has been reunited.

It is so amazing that such a small action can have such a profound result.

Recently a similar event happened when my step brother was killed in a motor bike accident.

Although he died on the scene doctors kept him alive for two more days and in doing that his organs were able to be utilised for tranplanting into seriously ill recipients.

A tragedy in one family can bring so much joy to others.

Over the past month there have been numerous road accidents here in Cape Town and a large number of fatalities.

If organs could have been rescued from some of the many victims of the accidents imagine what joy there could have been for many people.

Sadly, at this time of the year everybody takes time off to be with their families so I imagine that not many transplants take place as doctors are away on holiday and only attend to emergencies.

Driving along our roads is hazardous to say the least. Why there are not more accidents is a mystery to me.

Some drivers just have no control over themselves or consideration for other road users.

On the way to Yzerfontein a bakkie came tearing up from behind at well over the speed limit and overtook me forcing me into the yellow lines.

The truck ahead of me would not move over to allow him to pass so he took matters into his own hands and overtook the truck on a blind corner.

Oncoming cars were forced into the yellow lines on the other side of the road while our hero went on his merry way.

Where were our traffic cops?

Of course nowhere to be seen or maybe hiding behind a bush with a speed camera.

Soft targets is what they are after and to hell with road safety.

South Africa has brought in a new regulation that if a driver knocks over a pedestrian whether or not it was the drivers fault he will be charged with culpable homicide.

This could so easily have happened to me this week.

Driving into a short cul de sac in Edgemead I noticed a small boy kneeling on a skate board about to launch himself down a sloping driveway into the street.

I stopped the car and lo and behold without looking the kid came screaming across the road just metres in front of me ending up against a garage door on the opposite side of the road.

When the boy saw me waving my finger at him he just picked up his skateboard and walked back across the road as if nothing had happened.

I continued down the road and on my way back was very wary of the driveway which was now hidden by a car which was parked next to it.

As I neared the car I stopped and as I did so the kid did his number again, missing me by a few metres.

This time I saw red and demanded to see his parents who must have wondered what I had eaten as I climbed into them over their child's actions.

It's absolutely mind boggling to think that a small boy can be allowed to play in a street where cars are moving up and down without having any road sense.

This is one very lucky kid!

That's enough from me for this week.

Look out for my regular ezine next week.

Geoff Fairman


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