#TwoBits: The North Coast is the best place in the world

Over the past month we have been struck, not for the first time, how gratifying it is to live in a small community.

At first you imagine you are going to give up a lot, moving to a small town on the North Coast, losing ready access to shops, hospitals, schools, things to do – all the smorgasbord of stuff available in the city. But really, the opposite is true. You can’t and won’t find everything served up on a plate. So you have to dig a little deeper, give a little more.

When we first arrived from Jo’burg 40 years ago, it was a surprise and a little unsettling to realise you were being watched, weighed and put in a box. In cities, residents tend to be anonymous and amorphous. By contrast, in a small community there are defined slots for the butcher, baker, candlestick maker – and newspaperman. Which could hardly be avoided as we put ourselves out in the public gaze week after week.

There is also the realisation that other residents are taking a strong interest in you, your business and welfare. At first it feels a little intrusive. Some might view it as nosey-parkering. But after a while it feels more like a warm, safe blanket on a cold night. You are not alone.

A recent fall left Rose concussed plus a few more complications. Immediately the community sprung into action. Church and friends came forward with visits, prayers, words of comfort and, not to forget, delicious meals.

The comfort of a community goes beyond mere politeness or being “nice”. Kindness involves empathy plus action – seeing that someone could use support and then choosing to provide it, even in small ways.

At times like this we are reminded of how very fortunate we are to have good medical support, doctors and hospitals, within easy reach. Many small communities lack even a general practitioner and one has to travel far for comprehensive help. It happened to me last year that I had to drive several hundred kilometres to Bloemfontein from the middle of the Karoo for medical help because there were simply no facilities out there. For us here, Alberlito, Victoria and Gateway hospitals are minutes away.

No, we don’t miss the cities in the slightest. Been there, done that. This is the best place in the world.

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