Number 26 16.12.2022

We are preparing to move from Morningside Sandton to Rivonia 

It is not everyday that I get reaction on my blogposts. My friend Leendert Joubert reacted to it and his reaction is helpful to think over and to decide for yourself. We all have “stuff” that are “valueless” – especially to other people. Does price enter the equation? No – it does not.

When I sold my property in Morningside, it was not my home for almost 41 years that I sold. I sold the property because the house is priceless! No one could afford to buy that house.

The bricks and mortar [every single brick we saw it when it was laid] [we built the garage big enough for my woodworking tools to fit in], glass, carpets, light fittings, door handles, built-in cupboards, ceilings [even the dust on the ceilings], my chicken coop, the stones in the garden and the vegetables that were still growing there, were not for sale. The nostalgia is within ourselves.

There were a couple of non-negotiables when I started negotiations for the selling; one was: no entry into the home itself. The purchaser was interested in developing the property and therefor, so my reasoning went, he had absolutely no interest to see the interior. And it was accepted.

Now for Leendert’s contribution:

Neels, your blog [NUMBER 24 published on 14 December 2022] [CJC] about all the stuff we gather during our lifetime, is rather thought provoking. One of the thoughts that came to my mind while reading your blog, is whether or not one should put a price tag on those items that have sentimental value.  I have stuff that have no or very little commercial value, but beware if anybody should try to steal or damage or even insult it.  You just may see the complete opposite of the so-called gentle giant or Sagmoedige Neelsie.

You might recall my effort in the genealogic newsletter about the air rifle. Nobody might be interested to buy it, and it's okay, because nobody in this world will understand the bond it provides me with my dad and grandfather. Another example is the cane walking stick, that originally was my father's fishing rod. Anybody can make a walking stick from a piece of cane for less than twenty rand, but mine is not for sale for any amount of money. And still, I doubt if any of my children would want it. It just won't fit in with their lifestyles or living conditions. Neither can I see it on display in a museum. Chances are that it ends up on a dump site covered by thousands of tons of sand and soil and rocks and other people's stuff, just to be discovered a million years hence by some curious aliens. Apparently the same would apply to the grotesque hand I sculpted from the roots of a camphor tree, or the image of a three-legged pot I carved out on a plank to serve as stand for my potjiekos pot.

Do we really have a responsibility to conserve all the stuff, or is there a guideline to distinguish between stuff and real valuable items, or is it acceptable to take a photo of it and store it in the cloud, where nobody can access it if they don't have my password?  

His ideas are worthwhile to keep in mind; if you are in position to do something about it, to do that thing, more so if it is your last thing that you do. “Sagmoedige Neelsie” is a reference to one of my countries most prolific and loved authors of many years back: C.J. Langenhoven who lived most of his life in Oudtshoorn Western Cape. I can recommend Dominique Malherbe’s book SEARCHING FOR SARAH THE WOMAN WHO LOVED LANGENHOVEN. She casts another light on this Afrikaner icon and I must say it is revealing and not altogether flattering on Neelsie. I know her book was not about the drunkard, Advocate Langenhoven, but about her aunt Sarah Goldblatt; she tried to tell us about her aunt. She succeeded and left a great many questions in the wake of the waves her book stirred up.

Considering Dominique’s book, it is also another way of preserving a legacy. Do your research and write your story.

My friend’s grotesque hand that he carved is another thing altogether. They uprooted a camphor tree in their backyard, he kept it and recently he started carving this hand. And the hand lost its thumb in the process; he tells me that there was a weakness in the wood but he kept that “thumb.” He craftily put it back; my “woodworking-surgeon friend.”

Leendert's hand carved from a tree stump

Leendert's hand carved from a tree stump

Leendert's potjie carved from pine

The three-legged pot he carved years ago is still serving its purpose.

We are creating legacies as long as we are alive and as long as we live. Some years ago, I attended a funeral service of a friend who was a member of a woman’s co-operative. She focused on baking milk tarts. That went on for years. And she apparently kept notes about this lot.  Another friend who presented the eulogy, told us how many kilograms flour she used baking all of those milk tarts. And how many tins of condensed milk went in there. How many hours she spent in the kitchen; how many kilometers driving around in her car buying the ingredients and sourcing new ingredients and then delivering the baked items to the co-operative and how many hours she spent servicing the clients.

The same reasoning applies to Frank McCourt’s books. I am busy reading his modern-day classic: ANGELA’S ASHES. That is part and parcel of his legacy. You will think that you cannot attain that because, so your reasoning goes, you cannot write. That is besides the point. You have a legacy while you are reading this post. You should do anything possible to preserve some of it. If you don’t do it, who will? If you don’t do it now, when will you do it?

On my desk in my office, I have a lot of literature that I am busy reading. Every single book that was written by a single author or more than one is a legacy. And that is their legacy – for the moment. The law treatises will get dated and then their time is up. And new treatises will have to be written. And so, the cycle goes on and on an on … Judges come. And judges go. And they pass judgement because that is what a judge is called to do. Blog-authors come. And blog-authors go. That is the way life is. Prime Ministers come and go. Some faster than others, ask Me Liz Truss in the UK about it.

Prof. Dr Feynman allegedly said:

“Educate yourself about things. Study hard what interest you the most. Don’t worry about what others think of you, that’s none of your business. Train your mind to think, doubt, and question. That’s how you grow.”

This ties in with the saying: Try to learn something of everything and everything about something. 

I suggest to you that it is imperative in life. Get on with the job and tell me your story please: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

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Twenty-five 15.12.2022

Johan Heins

 

It is not raining today. Well, the day has barely begun. It might change suddenly.

We are living in a strange world. I am fortunate to live long enough to experience how society [societies] have changed. When I was at school, I was always taken aback at the school essay assignment with a title similar to this: “How do you see yourself 50 years from date of your birth?” Being born in 1950 it meant that I should have had a look at myself in the year 2000. Of course, a lot of things happened that changed the world: Dr Chris Barnard’s heart transplant operation at Groote Schuur Hospital, Western Cape; the moon landing and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and how many subsequent human visits to the moon. There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by. Apollo 13 had to abort its lunar landing due to technical difficulties. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan (1934-2017) and Harrison Schmitt (1935-) of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972.

Do you recall the international frenzy and hype around the turn of the century? The turn of the millennium? What is going to happen to us? All the computers world-wide will crash! The aeroplanes will not be able to take off or worse still every aircraft will come tumbling down just like Humpty Dumpty.

And it came. And it went. Nothing at all of all the predictions were fulfilled Nothing. The Truth About Y2K: What Did and Didn't Happen in the Year 2000? – that was the BIG question. It was really a big hype about nothing. A big ballyhoo! To refresh your memory, follow these few links.

And we are living to tell the tale! I can recount countless “prophesies” that were not worth anything at all. Not even ballyhoo! Maybe B.S? Politicians and the guys standing around at a braaivleis with a drink in their hands!

I recall two elderly Afrikaans gentlemen talking about the imminent “demise” of the Dutch Reform Church – the death of this Church was so seriously discussed and they were so sure of themselves that it would happen within a couple months. That is some years back. And I, and they, still attend the same Church – their “sure” predictions, were also B*** S***. The very same negative “predictions” of the end of this Church circulated in the media shortly after Prof. Dr Johan Heins, was brutally and callously assassinated in front of his wife and grandchildren inside the sanctity of his home. It was not the end of the Church. 

There is this other instance when I sat and listened with growing irritation and incredulity about the secession of the Western Cape to become an independent country. That was also on the cards within six months from that moment we were having a braai. It was so “well planned” that even the borders of that new independent state were published: it included Pretoria, parts of Randburg, parts of Alberton and it excluded specifically Johannesburg inclusive of Sandton and surrounds. Wow! That is detailed planning! And it was really imminent. “Everybody was waiting for this wonderful event to take place. This is now almost two years ago. And I am happy to state categorically and without fear of contradiction that it was totally and utterly false and just a ruse. I tried to get the internet links to publish it on my blog to this lot of rubbish especially the so-called “borders” of this new born state but was not successful. It was taken down.

Please write me your story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

 

 

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Number Twenty-Four 14.12.2022

Two roosters

 

It is still raining in my part of the world. The soil is wet and it seems as if the plants had enough.

In any case, life is on the go and we should live until the moment we breath our last.

What are you reading? I am of the view that if you can read, but don’t, you are worse off than a guy who can’t read. I don’t understand it if some-one stops reading. I don’t understand when a graduated person stops reading!

I was given a magazine WANTED [published by BUSINESS DAY] to have a look at. It is only for the very rich. There are advertisements of motor vehicles in there that are limited editions and which are specially once-off built for special clients. Price range? 20 million Pounds sterling. I read a back page write up on an heirloom that is no longer in the possession of the family. It is in a museum. And the author is of course rather nostalgic about it.

Just the other day, my group of genealogists, had a meeting that was dedicated to one topic for that meeting. The topic? What do you do with your “stuff” when you pass on? This is an evergreen topic, not so? When you start off in life, your goals are different from that of your parents. And that in itself is not a bad thing.

Your “stuff” is not necessarily only photographs, it might be a saxophone, furniture, vehicles or tools. You can add to the list. It might include sculptures or paintings.

You will have to deal with it because you and I will not live for ever and a day. And then your estate has to be wound up and the heirs will stand in a queue to receive. What then?

Photos, your letters, and so on might be uploaded to the internet. You will say to me that you can take pictures of the furniture and upload it to the internet site of your choice, of course I have to agree with you. My question remains: what will happen to that saxophone? Those precious antique chairs? That very valuable Persian carpet?

Does it mean that because you don’t have a clear-cut answer to this question, that you should stop acquiring things? Should you stop painting beautiful oil paintings? Stop sculpting? Stop making wooden furniture?

Of course not!!

A thousand times: NO DON’T STOP LIVING.

Please we should continue to live full out and flat out till we drop dead. I want to keep on doing research into difficult legal questions and writing legal papers. I want to keep on helping clients and go to the High Court. I want to keep on making plants and to sow seeds and to plant a tree – even if I will not be able to sit in its shade.

I want to hear from you what your thoughts are about this matter?

Please write me: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

 

 

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Number twenty-three 13.12.2022

 

It is still raining in South Africa and as my wife would say, she always is of that opinion, “It is raining outside.” How grateful am I that it is indeed raining outside. There are how many people who are suffering the degrading circumstances when their homes are flooded – from the outside to the inside.

I had a lovely conversation with my brother-in-law who lives in Wellington, Western Cape about the weather and the rainfall in his part of the world. He is a geologist. He tells me that since last Sunday evening when it started raining in his town, till this morning they had 72mm and it is still drizzling. He is not aware of any damages or injuries in his town. The Western Cape is in a winter rainfall area and no rain in summer, and yet it is raining there.

Sutherland, Northern Cape Photo number one

Sutherland, Northern Cape Photo number two

His sister, who lives in Sutherland, Northern Cape, sent him photos she took of the devastating downpours they had there yesterday – after a seven-year drought it poured 105mm in a matter of some hours. The connecting road from their farm house to the main road is destroyed and her husband battles to get to the tarred road. Places around their homes, that they got used to as being bone dry, is now a wetland. Next to the house there in now a “river” flowing – that is what it looks like, but it is not, it was a day or two before the rain, bone-dry rock-hard soil. In a matter of moments that place was changed to something they don’t know how to handle. Photo number one shows “a river” which is not a river but gushing water from a ridge not far from the homestead and number two shows the area where it came to “rest.” Hours earlier, it was bone dry, hard baked brown soil.

My one neighbour keeps meticulous records of the precipitation for many, many years [19 years in Houghton and 19 years in Rivonia]. The average rainfall for Houghton for 19 years were 142mm and for Rivonia for the last 19 years were 162mm. For the first 12 days in Rivonia, it is 80 mm.

The video is just outside my office. The drizzling is so reassuring and have a calming effect on me. During the night I woke up with this sound. And I was praying for the people who were fleeing the storms and who were suffering as a result of the water flooding their safe places: their homes.

Please write me your story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

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Number Twenty-Two 12.12.2022

The destruction of the Temple in 70aD

 

Witnesses! 

Ah, that is an interesting topic in law. And in practical everyday living. And it is highly relevant in my life as a Christian.

Where shall we start? One can write an entire doctoral on this topic alone, but I am not going to do that.  

I recall one High Court murder trial where I was sitting as an assessor, with the judge, who has passed away where the one witness made a huge impression on us. She was the daughter of the accused; he was accused of the killing of his wife, the witness’s mother. I won’t “entertain” you on the grizzly details of that atrocious deed. Truth be told, there were lots and lots of matters where witnesses made such an impression on me that I can hardly forget it. Some were reliable witnesses. Some totally and utterly unreliable and deceitful and completely depraved.

Let us return to the daughter and her father and the court proceedings.

The accused had an alibi as a defence.

Bear in mind that if an alibi fails, then the accused, whoever it might be, is guilty.

While she gave evidence, she looked straight at the accused and pointed her finger at him and said: “He killed my mother.”

That was still chilling. Goosebumps. “He killed my mother.”

And his alibi was clearly presented to the court that at the time of the killing, he was with his daughter at a restaurant and therefor he could not have done it.

The court had to deal with this heart-breaking evidence. How does that fit in with his defence? Does it have a direct and substantial bearing on the evidence presented by the State? How does that have a bearing on the rest of the evidence? We had to deal with that. And we dealt with it.

The State presented its evidence. The police did not do a good job of the investigation. The police had to go back to the scene of the crime how many months after other people started renting the flat and were living there. They failed to investigate the alleged killer’s home and his clothing and his bathroom and so on and so forth. The time frames presented by the State and the time frames presented by the accused were meticulously looked at and analysed.

The court came to the conclusion that the horrific deed was committed at a specific time within the time frame of his alibi. And the time frames of both the State and the accused were so closely related that it is too flimsy to convict him. We were satisfied that it would have been highly difficult to kill, leave the scene, wash and clean up the get-away vehicle, clean up the house, if that was where he cleaned himself, and be with his daughter all at the same time.

We found him not guilty; we stressed the philosophy behind an acquittal that it is not a finding that an accused did not commit the alleged crime. It is only a statement that the State failed to prove the guilt of the accused. If my memory serves me correctly, the court was, subjectively, of the meaning that he did it but objectively the alibi succeeded and consequently he was found not guilty.

This brings me to the circumstances surrounding the judicial killing of Jesus Christ, His embalming, His entombment, and the earth-shattering events three days later: His resurrection and aftermath of these events.

It is obvious that we do not have the eyewitnesses nor the original documentation with us; we are stuck with mostly the New Testament and documentation after these events. And I am further hampered by the fact that I cannot read the original languages. I am relying on the Afrikaans text, English and modern Dutch. On a balance of probabilities, I am satisfied with those documents. These are the most reliable documents pertaining to the Christian faith. Even more reliable than the historical documents about Julius Caesar.

The requirements to have been an apostle were stringent and the requirements to fill the place of Judas, the traitor, were just as stringent. You can read it in the Book of Acts of the Apostles chapter 1: 13 - 26 and I quote it verbatim:

“And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. “For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’ “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, “beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen “to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” [My emphasis].

The apostles, for certain, knew that this would make or break the Gospel of Jesus Christ! And it is just as true then, as it is at present.

Do you believe that? If not, what are your reasons? If yes, bless you.

Please write me your story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

 

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Number twenty-one 11.12.2022

 

My onion - I do hope that you've enjoyed my onion

Today I am a bit lazy to write. 

Remember it is Sunday afternoon, we’ve been to church, witnessing our young pastor christening his youngest child, a boy; a jovial tee-drinking session with good company. Back home, just taking it slowly and leisurely.

I will therefor keep it short and sweet as the saying goes. Well, not exactly sweet because of the picture I am publishing. It is an onion. I sketched it with chalk pastels. And I enjoyed it.

There are lots to write about – almost as if you are peeling an onion. Refugees who want to visit me and to bring me a gift for my work that I am doing for them. My plants are growing. My wife is preparing a spicy meal.

This is all for now. I trust that you have had a blessed Sunday.

Write me your story, please: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

 

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Number twenty 10.12.2022

 

Brunsvigia Dullstroom dried out

Brunsvigia, Dullstroom leaves

Brunsvigia, Dullstroom in full flower

Brunsvigia Dullstroom in situ

Saturday 10 December 2022 and the end is near!!

One of these days we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Our shopping malls will be filled with music, overflowing with Christmas decorations and the ever politically correct re-naming of Christmas to “… a festival of lights …” or “… the festive season.” The narrative is to cut out Christ; He’s got no place in our lives [Read the Gospel according to John chapter 1 – you might just as well read the entire chapter]. That was His dilemma when He was born just shy of 2000 years ago. He is still a game changer. He will change your life as well as He had changed mine more than 50 years ago.

St. Paul wrote a triumph of Christian logic and reasoning in the First Book of Corinthians chapter 15 about the pivotal role the crucifixion plays and the subsequent resurrection three days after His death. He came to the conclusion, and I agree with Paul, that if the crucifixion, fails, then our entire Christian faith is completely and utterly a waste of time and one of the biggest frauds ever committed. I encourage you to grab a Bible, turn to that great chapter and read it slowly and repeatedly and see if you can fault it. This carries the day when I have regard to the everyday atrocities presented to us with great relish all and sundry.

During February 2021 my wife and I went to Dullstroom for a very short break; it turned out to be a short break with a long tail following it. I got some brunsvigia radulosa seeds in Dullstroom. I wrote a post about it, and published it 5 September 2022; please re-read it. It is hard to think that it is some time back and I am still busy with the brunsvigia. The SA National Biodiversity Institute [SANBI] tells me that it might take up to eight years to flower! Eight years. That is how long my journey from Dullstroom might take and then some.

These plants are now in the process of being re-potted; it became quite crowded in the pots. I am looking at it now and they seem to be happy with the transplant – all are standing up right reaching for the light.

I am fascinated by these plants; and I am growing it in pots at my home.

The species is now known to be widespread from Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern half of Northern Cape. It is also known from Swaziland and Lesotho and from a few records from southern Botswana [the source for this piece of information is SANBI’s website].

The rooting system of plants are like my arteries – they carry the life blood/fluid to the entire plant. And it is only now in my later years that I grasp the beauty of plants; the sacredness of plants; the patience it takes to grow plants.  

Brunsvigia sprouting on top of the soil.

My first image is of brunsvigia seeds sprouting. I left it on the top of the soil and that is where they sprouted. Then I planted it into the soil and during the winter months, it dies back completely. 

Brunsvigia during spring in Rivonia

My second photo is during spring when everything comes back in all its new splendour and vibrancy.  

Brunsvigia' s strong rooting system

The third image is of the seedlings. These were growing underneath the soil and out of reach of my inquisitive eyes. They produced strong sturdy roots and I do hope it will come in good stead because they are now in new soil and new pots for probably another 18 months or so. I am a complete novice who is trying to do something unique – albeit only unique in my household. I don’t know of any of my friends who grows either the Brunsvigia, eucomis or the albuca bracteata. Or oak trees. By the way, some of my oak-seedlings are battling and I don’t know why. They are still alive, but it is an uphill battle for some. The others are fine and on the go. They have vigorous roots which just grow and grow and grow. Well, all things considered, oaks are huge trees; and I want to keep them small. How? I don’t know; I haven’t done anything like that before and I am excited about the learning curve ahead of me and my oaks.

I have the pleasure to give my friends homegrown plants that are completely indigenous to our beautiful country. Of course, I not only give them the plants, they get a “lecture,” maybe I should say: I tell them the entire history of the plants and what I did to get it so far. My eucomis is grown from leaf cuttings that were stuck in river sand for six months; down at the bottom of the container there they were. Tiny eucomis bulbs. Always something to learn and something to do.

There is a saying that goes more or less like this: Learn something of everything and everything from something. And I like it. As a late starter in the world of plants and propagating of plants and the care of plants, I am at great disadvantage and have to work hard at it. This does not scare me away; in fact, I consider it to be a challenge. The challenge also lies in this that I have to maintain a balance between my plants and my leal practice.

This brings me to Sir David Attenborough – a personal friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II of the UK.

Sir David Attenborough is unique. Have a look at this youtube video of SirDavid Attenborough being iconic for 25 minutes. He is the epitome of “life long learning.” I really enjoy this video and will certainly have a look of other videos of his. It is possible that you know more about Sir David, in any case, please have a look [or watch again].

Please write me a story of your journey with plants: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za

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