MY INTEREST had been piqued. There was no way that this could be true, I thought to myself.
The disposable cigarette lighter had just started becoming popular in South Africa, but now my uncle – who I thought was a cool genius at the time – was telling the wide-eyed group of boys that he didn’t need to invest in a Bic lighter, because he had figured out how to make an ordinary match burn twice!
I must admit I was very sceptical, but when he crossed his heart and hoped to die, I knew that he wasn’t lying and I just HAD to see how he’d do it.
With great ceremony, he removed the match – just an ordinary match – from the box; back then even matchsticks were made from quality timber and the heads were uniform, and even. He drew its head across the red phosphorus surface on the side of the matchbox, and I could swear that I heard the little lion on the box purr.
The match crackled to life, the golden flame reflecting in more than a dozen wide eyeballs.
“That’s one,” my uncle said, stating the obvious. Of course a match burned when you struck it on the box … I was waiting for the next bit.
He gently blew on the match, extinguishing the flame and smiled as my heart raced in anticipation. I edged closer … I wasn’t going to be tricked. I needed a front row seat.
Then, in full view of everyone there, my uncle pressed the match against the back of my hand. Yep! It burned again.
As I trotted off to change my underwear, the other youngsters roared with laughter. Break time at school was going to be full of fisticuffs the next day.
In a moment, my ‘Unc’ had become as unpopular as January … the month that everyone wishes would just hurry up and end. Already people have turned their affections to February, planning for Valentine’s, while January sits in the naughty corner … where it will be glaring at us for almost another two weeks!
But we need not waste these last 10 or so days of January; times like these, when it seems as if nothing good can happen, can be used quite productively.
Take your’s truly for example, I have decided to start a new habit in January. I have stopped using Facebook, I seldom watch endless YouTube clips till ungodly hours, I turn my phone off at 8pm at night and rather spend my time reading books that I bought years ago but never had the time to crack open. I have also started sketching and stretching. So thus far, I have had a good – penniless but good – January.
What has happened is that I sleep better at night – except on the nights that I sit up late to write this column – and I am more alert during the day. You even notice yourself noticing things … For example, has anyone noticed how many pine trees seem to be dying in the city these days?
Either they are starving because it’s January or they could be infected with a fungus or a parasite. Someone once told me that pines are sometimes affected by needle blight. The foliage of the tree turns brown as this pine pathogen kills needles and can weaken or kill pine trees.
But I am no botanist … I hope that a few of the trees in the city can be saved by those responsible. One thing I remember growing up – besides being burnt with a hot match – is how well Kimberley used to be cared for.
The city was never flashy or extravagant, but it was neat, tidy and what parks, roads and buildings there were, were in relatively good nick. Even when our friends and family from the big cities visited us and teased us because of our small town, we loved this place because it was always so well-maintained.
If our city fathers, ward councillors and maintenance crews can block out the noise of their rumbling tummies brought on by post-Christmas, post-New Year’s and post-back to school spending, and take stock of the situation in the city during what’s left of January, I am sure that they can come up with some sort of strategy, some plan of action … surely.
I was quite alarmed when many pothole repairs done quite recently simply dissolved during the good rains that fell in December. Kimberley drivers are back to honing our off-roading skills.
Meanwhile, I took a drive in Study Street, near the Diamond Pavilion Mall the other day and raw sewage was gushing, spewing, streaming from a couple of manholes. This is a great project to plan – there are so many leaking sewage drains everywhere. It would be nice to have that properly fixed once and for all.
Of course, our city’s residents also have to be educated to stop flushing anything and everything down the toilet.
A number of people I speak to – the ones who are not jaded and negative – are quite excited to see what plans can be made to get Kimberley back on its feet and looking pretty again. They are actually craning forward, leaning in as they sit in their front row seats eagerly anticipating a seemingly impossible miracle.
I just hope they don’t get burnt.
