I’m sitting on a bench at Dalebrook, watching the sea. It’s a bright, sunny morning. The waves are rolling in, calm now after a cold, blustery night of strong southerly winds. What will the day bring?
I’ve just packed out my art materials for a session at the Kalk Bay Community Centre. Earlier, two artists were politely negotiating the best position for their easels to get a good view of the model. It’s a familiar, almost charmingly predictable scene from our morning life drawing sessions. A little to-and-fro, but always respectful. Artists quietly claiming their spots, each trying to see clearly while not blocking anyone else.
Down at the Dalebrook tidal pool, a few women are already braving the icy winter water for their morning swim. It must be good for circulation, I tell myself. An elderly man in pale blue swimming trunks steps gingerly along the wall of the pool. He stands still in the sunlight, rubbing his lower back and stretching upwards, the waves breaking behind him. It’s a small but striking scene of vitality—of life being lived.
It’s hard to believe that not too long ago, a winter swim in Cape Town was seen as madness. For decades, the pool would be empty during the colder months. Now we understand cold water can invigorate the body and even uplift the mind. That says something about how attitudes change—and how we adapt.
Driving past Retreat the other day, I noticed a poster for a local comedian. It read: Pension Killer. That line struck me. It could mean many things, but I couldn’t help thinking of the real spirit killers out there—those creeping, grinding forces that slowly poison a person’s retirement: rising food prices, outrageous electricity bills, transport costs that bite, airfares that climb higher than your bank balance can follow. Even a simple Uber to the airport can eat up a thousand rand without blinking.
And yet, in spite of it all, people still show up. They swim. They paint. They walk. They chat politely over easels. They find a way to smile.
Maybe the trick isn’t to ignore the spirit killers—but to outwit them. To meet them with something stubbornly joyful. A bracing swim. A sketch of a live model. A morning at the sea. A chat with a friend.
So yes, cut your cloth to suit your circumstances. But don’t let the spirit killers win. Not on a sunny morning like this. Not while the waves still roll in.
