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Published: December 5th 2007
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EXTRA CREDIT
This is for all the mothers who said to me, “Oh, maybe
my little Muffie can earn some extra credit by showing your
blog to her classmates at school.” Please share this with your
children and grandchildren, nephews and nieces. Go flush.
Or watch the water drain out of your bathtub.
Here in South Africa the water swirls counter-clockwise, from right to left (I just checked in my kitchen sink). I forgot to check before I left the United States, but I remember being told that there, north of the equator, it rotates in the opposite direction. Could you please go check it out and get back to me? Also, could you ask your smart-alecky science teacher if she or he knows why? That would help me too. If you don’t know what an equator is, ask your smart-alecky parents.
As a matter of fact there are a lot of other things that are puzzling me about South Africa and I WICKED NEED YOUR HELP!
Let me back up. The first thing that I should let you know is that nobody here in South Africa says, “I wicked need your help.”
Or “wicked” anything for that matter. Honestly, I don’t think too many people outside of New England use that expression. Here the word “wicked” is used to describe things like “apartheid.” Oh yeah, look that word up and tell your teacher what it means and what it meant for South Africa. Also look up the number 46664, and the date 4/27/94. Next time you say, “I wicked want a new boogie board,” try to figure out why we use the word “wicked” the way we do. If you find out let me know. I can’t figure it out. And let me know what you think of apartheid. I think it was wicked, but I’d like your opinion, I really would.
Oh yeah, and speaking of 46664, I need more help with numbers.
In the past month we have been trying to take a hike over a mountain pass that connects the small towns of McGregor and Greyton (check out the maps). These are two very beautiful little towns where many of the houses have thatched roofs. There is a wall of mountains separating McGregor and Greyton, but you can walk
the Boesmankloof Trail over the mountain pass, spend
the night in a guest house and hike back the next day. There are no lions or elephants here, only ostriches and antelope, and maybe some baboons. The first time we tried, the weather was so bad that the Ranger told us, “I wouldn’t advise it.” Then, for emphasis, he added, “It can get very cold and dangerous up in the mountains.” I don’t know about you, but the thought of being miles from nowhere, drenched in cold rain, didn’t sound like a good idea. We went and ate bacon and eggs instead. That was a good idea.
So we returned on a beautiful Saturday three weeks later and tried again. However, there had been a big storm on the other side of the mountains a few days before we arrived. The combined rainfall for Wednesday and Thursday was 102.6mm not too far away in Plattenberg Bay, 124.6mm in Tsitsikamma, 317.8mm in Knysna, and 458.8mm in Witfontein. The trail was completely washed out. We couldn’t go. And this is where I need your help. I’m six feet tall. I don’t know millimeters from schmillimeters. Was this over my head? Up to my knees? Please get back to me.
Also if you could email Heather at the Tourism Office there at info@tourismmcgregor.co.za and thank her for saving our lives, blocking our path, so to speak, I would wicked appreciate it.
OK, there is another thing about the weather here that is puzzling the heck out of me, and that is the fact that it’s the end of spring here now, and summer officially starts on December 21. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s almost Christmas and it should be winter. I should be pulling out my long johns, my wool socks and getting my skates sharpened. But here, south of the equator (there’s that word again), the trees and flowers are all in bloom, we are picking strawberries, and the temperatures are in the 30’s. Wait, wait, wait! How could it be only thirty degrees and still be summer you ask? That’s an easy one, but I’m not telling. Hint: It has to do with two letters, “C” and “F.”
The real problem I’m having is trying to figure out how it could be winter in one place and summer in another, on the same planet, at the same exact time. Sure, sure, I know it’s because South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, I mean south of the equator, but that doesn’t help me. That’s like me asking you, “Why is an orange the color orange?” and you tell me, “Because it’s an orange.”
I need to know WHY, WHY, WHY, that on the same day in December when I am searching for good places to go bodysurfing, you are scraping ice off the windows of your cars. And then, and this really gets me, in July when we are swimming in the ponds in Wellfleet, it’s snowing here in the mountains. I don’t get it. Please, when you find out let me know why this happens. And tell your teacher too. You might not have to go to summer school.
I look forward to reading your answers and comments so I can figure some of these things out.
For Christmas we will be going to the country of Botswana where we hope to see elephants and lions and other things that you can’t pet. I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions about this experience. I hope you can help me.
Thanks,
Dennis
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