B Archives - 'ear 'ear! by Gaynor Young

The Best Laid Plans!

Gaynor Young — Fri, 15 May 2015 04:28:54 +0000

I had a brainwave!
My friend, B, was going up to Johannesburg on the 14th because her flight departed from O.R. Tambo Airport on the 15th. Why not fly up to Jo’burg with her and then go to the Naledi Awards that evening? The Naledi Awards are the Johannesburg theatre awards held in Gold Reef City. Every year I was invited and every year I politely refused. This year I would joyfully accept. We booked an extra flight ticket and contacted Dawn Lindberg who was in charge of the Awards. No problem. Tickets for the Naledi were put aside for us. We were set! I was so looking forward to seeing my old theatre friends once more.
But what to wear? The Naledi Awards are smart and I wanted to look ‘drop-dead-gorgeous’! It seemed a new dress was called for. B and I made our way to the Mall and our search began. We were in Edgar’s and they didn’t have any dresses that called out to me. As we were leaving my attention was caught by a pair of denim dungarees. Forget the dress! I left there the proud owner of a beautiful pair of denim dungarees!
Just as we were heading for home, I was stopped by this sensational necklace. Maroon crystal beads interspersed with diamonds. Not real diamonds obviously but so delicate and fragile. This necklace would look stunning with the dress I had worn to the Durban awards twelve years ago. It would also look magnificent with my dungarees! I went home that day tremendously happy. A beautiful necklace and dungarees! What more can a girl want!!!
We left for the airport at eight. Our plane took off at nine thirty so once we had checked in, B and I sat and chatted over cups of steaming coffee. Finally we meandered our way to the airport lounge. We had three quarters of an hour before we boarded so I opened a book and B her I-Pad.
“Excuse me, are these seats taken?” a vibrant faced woman asked.
“They’re all yours,” I replied as she and a young man sat down. Surreptitiously I watched them over the top of my book. Obviously very much in love, hands held and eyes touching constantly.
I looked at my watch. We should have been boarding ten minutes ago. I strolled to the window and standing on the roof of an SAA plane was a man attacking the engine with a what looked like a spanner in his hand. I called B. “That looks like our plane,” I said dryly.
“Oh, shoot!”
There was an announcement that our plane would be a little delayed. Well, as long as it wasn’t too long, I thought. But an hour later, there was another announcement saying that the pilot refused to fly that plane. They were getting a different plane down from Johannesburg. Boarding was delayed until two. Shytenhauzen!
We phoned a friend, Jan, and she came and took us out for a lovely brunch at Travelbugs Restaurant. Then it was back to the airport and the book and I-Pad once more played their part. At about one thirty they announced that there would be a further delay.
By now, B’s I-Pad was forgotten. She was like a caged lion, pacing up and down, continually glancing at her watch. The young ‘in love’ couple were in a state. I discovered that they were on their honeymoon. Apparently they were flying to Johannesburg and then boarding their flight to Singapore. There they would be spending two nights in a five star hotel.
“What time does your flight to Singapore leave,” I asked.
“Six.”
“If we leave here at two, you’ll be in Johannesburg by four. You’ll make it, don’t worry.”
At 2 o’clock, there was no plane in sight. At three the distraught couple were assured that although there was a delay they would be leaving soon. B asked if SAA would pay for a taxi from the airport to Gold Reef City. They literally laughed in her face. To cut a long, drawn out, frustrating story short, our plane finally took off at a quarter to five. The couple missed their flight to Singapore and as a result their booking for the five star hotel fell through. Were they reimbursed for the missed air flight and the already paid for hotel? Don’t make me laugh!
The good news was that my brother met us off the Gautrain at seven. I usually only get to see Patch and family once a year at Christmas, so this was a real bonus. The bad news was that there was an outage in Sandton. The traffic lights were dead and as a result the traffic was manic. We arrived home at 7.30. It had taken us almost twelve hours to get to my brother’s house in Johannesburg! I was exhausted: Forget the Naledi Awards! We curled up on chairs in the kitchen with glasses of wine and hot chocolate and chilled with family.
What a total waste of an air ticket and your time, you are thinking. Smile – no, not a waste at all! It gave me a whole extra day with my special friend, B. A time where I could simply sit with her and chat. There was nothing rushing us and no extra commitments. When B stopped her manic pacing and relaxed, it was a blissful, happy time of unwinding and farewells.
I look at my dungarees and beautiful maroon crystal necklace and smile…..but you might not see me booking an air ticket with SAA in the near future!

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Rainbow, the Bridge & the Stick!

Gaynor Young — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 03:36:00 +0000

The Swallows are leaving.

B and John are Swallows. In other words, they spend six months here in South Africa and six months in England. I have one more week with them before they leave for England once more. I am dreading their departure. B is my Soulmate. How am I to function without her?!

The other thing that I am going to miss badly is their magical garden. I want to saturate myself in it so that the memory remains crystal clear. Let me tell you about it.

When one looks out at it one sees forests, mountains and sky! Their garden doesn’t have a fence so I’m unsure where it actually ends and the rest of the world comes in! One goes down their patio steps to be met by a beautiful green lawn that goes down to this tumbling little stream. This stream is overshadowed by reeds. Two months ago it was a hive of activity as the weavers made their nests. The males were in constant motion ducking and diving as they constructed these wonderful, tiny abodes. Then their female love would come and inspect her living quarters and decide that there was no way that she was living in this shoddy apparition! Honestly!!! The male had forgotten to put in such and such and the inside was far too small. Systematically and with total thoroughness, she would tear it to shreds. You could almost see the male take a big gulp and then off he would fly. He would look heartbroken. But not for long. A few moments later he would return and the weaving of a new nest would begin!

The male birds are a beautiful bright yellow in colour. The females are a mousy green. This probably explains their stroppiness over the nests. “Yah, you might be a good looking hunk, but can hunks build good houses? I think NOT!”

John has cut a plank of a Bluegum tree to form a bridge over the stream. This leads to a tiny hillock. There John has placed a bird feeder much to their intense delight. I love watching this entire family of guinea fowl make their way across the bridge. And I mean ENTIRE family. Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles included! Skedadling amongst them is their one child, the smallest, sweetest guinea fowl ever! Once the guinea fowl and birds have fed and left, there is almost a pause in the feeding frenzy. But not quite. A tiny mouse darts out from the nearby foliage, grabs a piece of grain and then…whissssk…he is gone. A few moments later, seeing the coast is still clear, the entire process is repeated. Perdita, my wire haired dachshund, on going across the bridge one morning, smelled the mouse. High, intense excitement followed as she vainly tried to root the mouse out. Since then we place a barrier on the bridge preventing Perdita’s escapades. Highly frustrating for her but the mouse is back!

B and John regularly “borrow” a little Jack Russell, Rainbow. What a character that dog is! She is the only dog I’ve ever come across that actually pulls her mouth into a cheeky grin. She loves bringing this stick for you to throw in the stream. Then quick as a flash she is in after it and the wet stick is deposited at your feet with a wagging Rainbow ready for the whole process to begin again. It’s fine for the first couple of times but after the fourth or fifth throw one has had enough. It is then a case of: “No, Rainbow, I’ve finished throwing your stick now.You go and amuse yourself.” And she does. She takes the stick onto the bridge and then nudges it so that it falls off the bridge into the water. It’s then a case of: ‘Ah, the stick has been thrown into the water. I’ll fetch it!’ She runs off the bridge, dives into the stream, joyfully collects the stick and the whole process begins again! I have included a video of Rainbow, the bridge and the stick. You will smile out loud!

While having breakfast on the patio one morning we watched a Woodland Kingfisher plunging head first into the water catching his meal. His magical feathered body matched the surrounding kaleidoscope of the day. It was a crystal clear morning where the colours seemed to smash you in the face with their intensity. I took a picture of it all in my mind so that I can re-look at that moment whenever I am needing a bit of colour in my life.

B and John often hold dinner parties outside on their patio at night. One watches the sun go down and then it happens. The orchestra of crickets begin! These birds of the night play the most wondrous melodies. The crickets are joined by a chorus of frogs and these two harmonise together. The sound is too wondrous for words! I just rejoice in what this previously deaf person is now able to hear. It is such a rich cacophony of sound. I think back to my “deaf ” days when the joyful sound of the crickets that I now hear would have been this unendurable loud clamouring noise. A noise so horrific it would have prevented me from possibly picking up anything that anyone said at the table. Now it is a different case completely. Now I choose to luxuriate in the sound whilst keeping a gentle appraisal of the goings on at table. I had forgotten the crickets and frogs wonderful orchestrations. In B and John’s garden the orchestra plays. Like my birds of the daylight, these “birds” of the night sing a song that is equally unforgettable to me.

Yes, I will miss B and John.

And oh, how I will long for their garden!

Click here to see Rainbow performing her very own throwing and fetching stick routine!

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England, My England!

Gaynor Young — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 08:58:32 +0000

My time in England is drawing to a close. How the time has flown by! Looking back over my stay, these are some of the things that I really love about England.

– Like Eva Cassidy, I love the Fields of Gold in England! The bright red poppies sparkling amidst golden fields of wheat and barley in the sunshine simply take my breath away.

– Many of the houses and cottage are beautifully crafted in local stone. England differs to South Africa in that in many areas you can actually determine where you are by what the a buildings are made out of. At the beginning of my holiday, I was fortunate to stay in Cassie Bassett’s (nee Holliday) wonderful holiday cottage in the Cotswolds. All the houses in this area are built of the most beautiful sandy, russet, golden blocks of stone. In the sunshine they seem to positively glow. Where ‘B’ lives in Norfolk many of the cottages, churches and walls are built of Norfolk split flints and instead of glowing, they sparkle in the suns rays.

– The light in England is different to South African light. South Africa has a beautiful orange-gold glow to it. In England it is softer. It is more yellow-gold. it is gentler somehow. They are both beautifully different.

– As I have mentioned before, the colour I associate with England is green. Radiant thickets of green foliage tickled with rays of sunshine. Breathtaking in their greenness.

– England has one of the best television organisations is the world with the BBC. They also have the best TV Catch-Up App with the iPlayer. This App is absolutely tremendous particularly when used in conjunction with my wonderful iPad that was a birthday gift last year. Whilst I am in England, I can turn on my iPad and via the iPlayer watch a myriad of TV programmes. Drama is my favourite category and what is even more amazing is that every programme is available with subtitles!!!! Only people who are deaf can fully appreciate the absolute joy of subtitles! I am able to download any programme I want before I head back to SA and they will remain available for me to watch for the next 30 days

– Whilst in England I go to B and John’s church, Proclaimers. It is a vibrant church made up of young, enthusiastic, non-religious Jesus loving people. Their pastor, Tom Rawls, is phenomenal. His messages are inspired by the Spirit of God, and while making you think, he also makes you laugh. I always leave there with my precepts challenged and that is what good preaching is about, isn’t it?

– I love this time of year in England. The sun goes down at 9.30 p.m. in the evening. It is the most idyllic thing sitting in the garden at that time of night, listening to the birds make their final preparations, drinking your last cup of camomile tea, before going inside, brushing your teeth and in turn heading for bed – and the iPlayer!!

However, my favourite thing in England, without a shadow of a doubt, is my best friend and soulmate – B!

PS – I have had the most glorious hot and sunny weather whilst being here, this is nothing to do with the English, I brought it with me from South Africa!

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Soulmates!

Gaynor Young — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 11:25:03 +0000

Let me tell you about B.

I was chatting to some friends at a dinner party when suddenly I was tapped on the back. I turned to this petite, pixie haired woman. In fact, she was a tiny elf with dancing, crinkly eyes that met my stare quite openly. Then she spoke. Hell, I would kill to have a voice like hers – deep and husky with a strong British accent. Incredibly sexy sounding!

“Hi,” she said, “I believe you’re deaf.” Taken aback, I merely nodded. ” Well,” she said “so am I,” and pointed to hearing aids in both ears.

“You’re deaf?” I said stupidly.

“I have 20% hearing in both ears so, yes, I’m deaf!” she laughed. I liked her instantly. I left the dinner party that night having made another friend in George.

B and her husband, John, went back to their home in England for Christmas and we SMS’ed each other daily. In one SMS she asked me how old my computer was.

“About 10 years old,” I replied.

“Okay, listen,” said B, “I have about 3 lap-tops lying around. When I return I’ll bring

one over for you.”

I was totally gob-smacked as you can imagine! True to her word, B and John landed back in George and that evening she bought around my laptop. It was, in our modern day slang words “totally awesome!”

Even better than my wonderful lap-top, is my friend with the dancing eyes – B! She is a mass of contradictions. A gregarious person, yet one that likes being by herself. I think being deaf all her life she is quite comfortable being alone. She is this mad keen golfer and I believe is damn good. Her handicap is 8! I feel as if I have known her a long, loooong time. It is very rare to encounter friends like this. This is the first time that I ever have! In fact B is more than a best friend. She is a Soulmate. “Soulmate” Pah! I used to scoff at the word. As far as I was concerned, Soulmate was a very over the top way of saying best friend. Soulmate – Yuck! Uh uh, definitely not for me. I preferred to be more down to earth using the word: best friend.

Until I met B. There is no other word that adequately sums up what B is to me. And so, at that dinner party, a Soulmate stepped into my life.

Two friends curled up on the sofa, mugs of Spearmint and Camomile tea in hand, talking, laughing and just being. Sitting at my favourite restaurant, Travelbugs, tucking into their delectable Chefs salad with chicken sprinkled on top. Meeting B at gym which is not the most ideal situation – for me! She makes me work so damned hard. I have even been known to sweat!!! Also, at gym, we have discovered the joys of the steam bath. There I sweat without a problem and I love doing it. Very red faced when I come out but I feel fresh and ready to face the world!

I could weep that B spends six months of the year in England, BUT today I am flying to England to spend three weeks with my friend – a present from B!

I thank God for bringing this Soulmate into my life. I thank Him for inventing B!

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