Born in a severe storm.

I want to show you the power of the recent storm that devastated the Western Cape Province of South Africa. And also our first day of sunshine after the storm.

As the news of the storm is all over the media, I am going to show you the fragile survivors in nature.

Thus far, 8 people have died in the storm and they are still searching for survivors. 84 of our roads are still closed and many have been washed away, stranding people that cannot get out of the towns. We had a long weekend and hundreds of people went away for a break, now they cannot get back to their homes and jobs, because of the road closures. Emergency staff have their hands full, and they are working and helping people all over the parts of the province that were affected by the storm.

We have a square of water channels that were built, with a pedestrian path passing through the center. Each part of the water channels has a seated sculpture like this below in the water.

But where was this sculpture?

Drifting crying in a corner of the water channel. The storm simply lifted this sculpture off its mounting pad.

Back to the goslings, there were 10 of them and one of the staff members told me that there were 14. So, 4 of the cute little things were already taken by raptors.

How suitable is the saying to "stretch a leg".

The Southern Double-collared sunbird below still had some rainwater in his ear.

I watched this cutie sleeping, as I thought that it would fall over :)

But no luck, as it's little legs just gave way :)

Mr Malachite sat overhead watching for raptors so that he could warn the geese below. He gave me a look, but must have found me to be okay, as he didn't raise the alarm.

And finally, here's the guilty party. The scientists reckon that because we had two full moons in the same month, it affected the Spring Tide and that was the reason for the damaging storm.

If you want to see some of the damages of this terrible storm, take a look at this link.
Source

So yes, there is birth and there is death, and both are the only certainties that we have. What we do in between is what matters and each of us has our own way to cope with life. I grew up in a storm, as my parents were divorced in my baby years and my mom was kicked off the farm. So, with my widowed gran and her children she moved into a 3 bedroomed flat in the big city of Johannesburg. A big problem was that her brother stayed in the flat with his 3 children, and it was mayhem. The only peace that I could find in my small days, was that I was sent back to the farm on all of the holidays. Most times upon my return, I found that my mother had moved to a different place, and some were real hovels.

To cut a long unbelievable story of suffering and rejection short, I grew up as a nomad and I am still a nomad to this day. This is just a small part of the story of the storm in my own life, and I am sure that many here on Hive have similar stories of the storms in their own lives. So the destruction of the storms in nature does not affect me negatively, as I know that my own life is only temporary, until the final storm in my life arrives.
Such is life in my opinion.

I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

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