I remember walking around and exploring the sandbanks at the mouth of the Breede River on a hot sunny afternoon.
The water in the river a brownish coffee colour.
Sky above pale blue.
The surf out on the sandbars breaking white in the greenish blue water.
The tide turned and in rushed the greenish blue water starting to make its way up the river.
In those days the seawater went way up the river about 9 km on the spring tide.
Sitting in the sun on a sand dune looking across the bay at the majestic point of Cape Infanta jutting out into the ocean.
The warmth on my body from the sun and against my face and arms the fresh south-easter blowing on shore from the sea.
Happy memories. Good times.
Remembering the joy that simple things in nature can bring.
It’s a privilege to have that kind of freedom as a child. To be happy and enjoy nature and the sea. No one can take that away from you.
In today’s business environment, whether you operate a small business or something larger, how often do you get a chance to get away from it all? Do you go to the same holiday spot and do the same things? Have you lost touch with your sense of delight about the world around you?
Seeing and experiencing new places invigorates. It refreshes. Inevitably whatever you are doing now will eventually fade away. What memories, what stories will you have to treasure? If you can get away from it all and go someplace that springs from a deep longing it will no doubt re-kindle an appreciation for the small, true things in life.
It was a privilege for me to have parents and grandparents who enjoyed living by the sea. In that wide river, so aptly named the Breede River, I experienced such happy times. I treasure those experiences and must go back to experience the river anew.
It’s a truism, but that’s why it is so true that never let things that matter least be at the mercy of the things that matter most.
