Who knows what tomorrow brings.

We are well into June and summer has yet to arrive. As I look out this morning the sky is Gray with cloud, not the beautiful and distinctive Cumulus Nimbus heralding a storm, or the early morning high, wispy, Cirrus, set in the blue background of high altitude space, the sun rising to inform the day and us, that all is well. 
No, the cloud is low and featureless, covering the land (our bit anyway) in a dismal blanket which, for the claustrophobic can be oppressive. Just think,  above is what we all crave, warm sunshine, the uplift of emotion that light brings.
Its this quality of light that we so miss, light which informs our spirit and encourages us to do things.  

I was Goggling Jo'burg yesterday, reminiscing  the suburbs where I spent so much time.
South African roadside architecture, the houses the gardens the pavements, the general aspect, is quite a hotch potch compared to the suburban sameness over here. Each home owner has done his own thing in one way and another. The upkeep, the missing coat of paint, the wall built to the boundary is a statement very different to say the American, open lawn to the front door. The use of the slatted concrete sections, secured by concrete pillars tells you where you are, its South Africa, my china !! 

The vivid bougainvillea, the idiosyncratic jacaranda all set against a cloudless blue sky, somehow sharpening the colour and heightening the contrast. 
Gray is not an attractive colour and when people absorb too much, its psychological residue, effects their character and dampens the spirit. The sunny streets encouraged the wish to go for a walk, the bright contrasty colours lent the suburbs a depth of focus which the mind enjoys and finds great resonance.

I remember once, with Andrew returning from visiting Angela in school in Cape Town. Those were the days when I would think nothing of a drive to CT over a long weekend. We were passing through the flat open OFS, bowling along at 80mph. Suddenly the temperature dropped the clouds rolled in from nowhere and it got very dark. The sky was black ahead the cloud appearing to reach down to earth. There was a gap to one side, would we make it or were we destined for a hells cauldron, it was so dramatic. I upped the speed and went for the gap. Lightening was striking all around, tremendous bursts of electrical force, the crackle and smell of electricity, the hail, bouncing off the bonnet it all added to this Dantesk scene as we sped, on foot down, a little wild eyed with the occasion. 

There are two schools of thought. One, would deplore the exposure to risk and crave the tranquillity of a settled environment. Each day much the mirror image of the last, sure that tomorrow will be much as today. Confident in the assumption that any change will be safe and controlled, that that is their entitlement !!
 
The second would revel in the conundrum, we know not what tomorrow brings and it is better so !!