Fidler in the Hood: The grass is greener on the other side
Grass has grown to unbelievable heights, indigenous bush has taken over and roads have gone to pot.
FLAMIN’ ‘eck! It ain’t ‘arf hot, mum! We’re having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave, folks. No need to break out in a sweat: the scorching heat will do it for you with no effort from yourselves. Your scribe told the wife we’d be better off in Blackpool, but she would have none of it, claiming she would rather ‘fry than freeze’ living in not-so-jolly-old England. So, you’re stuck with your stick-in-the-mud Uvongo scribe.
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Bee in the bonnet
Jolly Jack the lad (your scribe, folks) really tries to sell the ‘best of’ Uvongo and the South Cost. It’s a great place to live – no worries, no hurries, no sweat (well, most of the time). However, things get irritating from time to time, especially when our lovely place is going to pot.
The state of grass verges outside homes in the vicinity of Edwards Street/Robben Road and Dee Road in Uvongo is disgusting, and embarrassing. It’s been months since so-called contractors were in the area. In the meantime, grass has grown to unbelievable heights, indigenous bush has taken over and roads have gone to pot. Your scribe contacted local Ward 10 representative, George Henderson, pleading with him to do something about it and sure enough, George kept to his word, bless him. He and the lads in blue overalls were round in a couple of days. Thanks, George. However, there’s always a ‘but’… at the risk of being a pain in the butt.
Tiring work
The grass was cut okay, but somehow the boys in blue did not see the other vegetation that needed cutting and clearing away. The result is that the area is just as bad as ever – an eyesore and a breeding ground for special home-grown ‘mozzies’. Mind you, friends, let’s look at the positives – the long grass makes a lovely bed for sleeping in after a hearty two-hour breakfast, followed by a two-hour break for lunch. After all, grass-cutting and verge cleaning is thirsty, tiring work. There is never a supervisor in sight to ensure the job has been done properly. Will this blight ever be sorted out?
DIY
Further along the road, outside an unoccupied home, the grass verge has become overgrown, spilling onto the road itself. Despite pleas to the municipality to cut the grass, your scribe gave up and personally paid for a ‘private’ contractor to do the job. And this is definitely a ‘once-off’ civic duty exercise and not paid out with our recent German State Lottery winnings, which will be delivered by the SA Post Office any day now? You may laugh! It is unfathomable why current owners or tenants do not make an effort to keep the area outside their homes neat and tidy.
After asking two property owners why they didn’t look after their patches outside, the reply (if perhaps reluctantly understandable) was: ‘we pay our rates and taxes, so it’s the municipality’s job’. Maybe so, but really, everyone should try to help out and make the area something to be proud of.
Silly season?
It’s now the ‘silly season’ leading up to the May general election. The time when political parties want your vote. They can have ours – but only if they cut the grass in Uvongo.
Best of luck Jude!
Outside the moans and groans of the green, green grass of home, life is still beautiful. The CO’s grandson Jude Mitchell, her very own pride and joy, started high school this week, looking every inch the real deal in his brand new school blazer, tie and mandatory haircut. Good luck, Jude! If you need any help doing your sums, then don’t come knocking, but anything on Manchester City is a different story. Incidentally, it was a good week for them, sweeping away everything before and, proving beyond any doubt that, outside ‘love and marriage, which goes together like a horse and carriage’, there’s only one other life-long love affair. However, a message on my desk from the CO rained on that parade: ‘Thought for the day – “If a man watches three football matches in a row, he should be declared legally dead!” – US humorist and columnist Erma Bombeck. Ouch! She does have a way with words. See you, Rob.
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