Greetings friends. Hope you lads and lassies out there are still fighting fit, full of fun and fancy-free. This corona bug has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons and life as we know it may never be the same.

Although, in some ways, this crisis brought the CO and your scribe closer together and we have rediscovered the art of meaningful conversation.

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Looking inconsolably at her; what was I to do? Was there anything to live for? ‘For heaven’s sake,’ she replied, ‘it’s only a game of football. Manchester City will recover and football will return to telly sometime in the future. Get over it. It’s just a virus. The world will survive.’

In the meantime, she continues to slide a tray under my bedroom door with my meal on it. ‘As a health precaution’ she says. On with the show.

Last week, two more foreign visitors visited our sleepy shores. Welcome Jocelyne Muzi from Marseille, France, visiting her pen pal Deseré Bouillon of Uvongo.

She is in town for a couple of months and is loving it here. Asked what she liked about our off-the-beaten-track backwater – after all, she comes from the country of French flair, style, culture, sophistication, haute cuisine, superior wines and Brigitte Bardot.

“South Africa is a beautiful country, and the people are so kind and friendly. Also it is not cold here; the weather is perfect. France has many problems these days. We are not a happy people and there’s no ‘joie de vivre’ anymore.”

Jocelyne and Deseré were amongst the group of lunar worshippers at the monthly Moondeckers gathering and are planning to walk the famed 800-km El Camino route from the French border to Santiago de la Compostella in north-west Spain later this year.

More locals should come along for a couple of hours of friendly patois and the best prego rolls in town. The full moon unfortunately failed to put on a show, but no one seemed that bothered.

Another welcome visitor was Horst Mohr from Palatinum, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, visiting brother Derec in Southbroom. This was his second visit to SA. Besides coming to see family, he was asked what his impressions of life in everyday South Africa is.

He replied that at the start of his visit someone remarked that “South Africa is not for sissies”. He made a mental note of all the advice, but says the beauty of SA is incomparable.

He fell in love with Oribi Gorge and could have stayed forever, it was so beautiful and peaceful, he said. The brothers have done their own ‘El Camino’, but in the luxury of a car, visiting all SA’s beauty spots from here to eternity.

Horst says the people here are something special, overwhelmingly polite, welcoming, warm human beings, always smiling. Praise indeed.

He returns to Germany this week. A retired viticulture biologist, he was a research scientist for 41 years in the grape-growing industry, specifically relative to Moselle wines.

Nice work if you can get it. Herr Horst is a Borussia Dortmund football fan and thinks Jurgen Klopp (‘Kloppo’ to his friends) is the greatest. Say no more.

Besides meeting Horst, we had called by to say auf wiederseh’n to good friend Derec, who was due to fly out to Germany for a family visit this week.

“I’m not going, have cancelled my ticket and am staying put in Southbroom” was Derec’s shock news after his daughter in Berlin advised him not to come. The whole country is in lockdown, because of the Covid-19 epidemic and streets are deserted and public venues are closed.

Life as we know it continues, but in the meantime, SHAFTS have sadly cancelled the ‘Beetle Drive’ scheduled to be held at Shelly Beach Ski-boat Club tomorrow, March 19.

Hopefully the club will be able to go ahead with the monthly braai scheduled to take place at Uvongo Striders Club at noon on Sunday, March 29. See you, Rob.

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