Better late than never

I am looking down on a sea of Mozambiquean cumulonimbi drifting over the shimmering Limpopo river delta. And beneath the winged cotton candy clouds the vast blue of the Indian ocean stretches out into the sunny East. We're finally on our way! Better late than never as a wise man once said.

Speaking of delayed reactions, as we zipped through traffic to the airport this morning, I was contemplating the Afrikaans equivalent of the word ratrace. Even after several moments of pondering the matter, the answer remained beyond my mental grasp. I simply could not come up with a word that slipped off the tongue with the same fluency as ratrace. Similarly, my Afrikaans could not provide a satisfactory translation for the expressions life in the fast lane and fast-tracking which are used fairly regularly in our postmodern English conversations. Which got me to thinking, wondering, musing, whether perhaps Afrikaners are just more relaxed, slower, more easy going by nature? And could it be possible that this characteristic is in itself emphasized by the lack of sufficient terminology to describe the contrariety? Sort of like the Eskimos with their 200 synonyms for snow except that in addition, we never bothered constructing any descriptive phrases for heat.
When considering popular Afrikaans vernacular such as slakkepas, agteros kom ook in die kraal or my personal favourite dis 'n loopbaan, nie 'n renbaan nie, it makes me wonder whether our English friends did not perhaps invent better late than never to make light of what they considered to be the rather lethargic Afrikaner folk.
Surely not?

Either way, I'm not planning to switch off or slow down during this holiday. Merely regrouping, getting my mental ducks in a row so to speak. Yes, them crazy dreams need to be prioritized, planned and filed accordingly. And in the interest of getting an early start on the regrouping, righting my recent procrastination wrongs and simultaneously killing time on this 4 hour flight, I give you - ladies and gentlemen - my new years resolutions for 2008*:

1. Run the Wellington Safari and Knysna Oyster festival half marathons


2. Skydive


3. Finish the Masters thesis


4. Be somewhere abroad by August


5. Drink six glasses of water a day


6. Be joyful, with chutzpah!

(ooh, ooh, Malawi below us to the left).

Anyway, a good combination of physically, intellectually and emotionally challenging goals I think. Both broad and specific. Yes yes, I am satisfied. Okay, so maybe it is February already and I'm slow with the resolutions but I've at least made some progress on points 5 and 6 with 3 chugging along slowly as well. I'm going to give my slowpoke Afrikaans self the benefit of the doubt. I shall indeed believe better late than never to be the truthful words of a wise man and not the patronizing comment of the hare to the tortoise.

* The following terms and conditions apply
The resolutions can be approached in any particular order though time restrictions apply to nrs. 1, 3 and 4.
Resolution activities can be completed up until 11.59pm on December 31st 2008 in order to be considered successfully achieved.
Participation in running events will be subject to an injury-free physical state of being. Basic unfitness will not be considered an injury.
Skydiving may take the form of a tandem or solo jump which will most likely be dependent on financial considerations.
"Finishing" the Masters thesis refers at the very least to the submission of a final draft before October 2008. It is still unclear whether March 2009 graduation will constitute the succesful completion of resolution nr. 3
"Abroad" refers to anywhere outside the Republic of South Africa excluding only landlocked and immediate neighbouring countries.
A "glass" refers to a minimum of 250ml
The definition of chutzpah in this case does not refer to the classic definition that was given by Leo Rosten: "that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan" but rather implies a milder yet noticeable dose of intelligence, courage and nerve. An optimistic tenacity that forces people to notice you. The quality which Monica in Friends referred to when she said: "It's because I'm scrappy."

Mused @ 9.27am
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Paradise.
Paradise.
My idea of paradise.
A world completely removed from any reality I have known thus far.

This is why I can't be a professional writer - I do not have the words or the creative ability to describe this:

I am trying to capture it best I can but the shutterspeed will always be too slow to take in everything. At the same time I'm allowing the experience to merely wash over me like a wave without being caught up in the need to capture everything through anything other than my senses.

In one word, it is magnificent...

Written in awe @ 11.10pm