Three-legged Dogs & Freedom Day
Dear Inmates, for the first time in months, we set our alarm clock for an early wake-up call. We leapt out of bed into our fitness gear and onto the road for our first jog in weeks! Whoop whoop, stage 4 lockdown came into effect, and we will take full advantage of it.
As the first sunlight rays spilt over the majestic mountains in our backyard, it displaces more than just the night sky. It shatters the uncanny ghostly atmosphere that gripped our neighbourhood for the last couple of weeks into pieces! As crisp autumn airbrushes over our cheeks, our legs quickly find a comfortable rhythm on the tarmac and the way to the coastal path. The sound of the sea beckons us to hurry up.
There’s a December holiday vibe everywhere as humans and dogs possess the roads, old and young, big and small. Everyone we pass by has a beaming whalesmile and peri-twinkel in their eyes. The cyclers, joggers, skateboard riders, walkers and talkers (there were a lot of those) are all looking out for each other. The sound of human voices and kid’s laughter is a beautiful noise coming up from the streets and parks, and we are all singing the same freedom song. For years, we have known each other and are old friends we communicated to each other nonverbally. The bond of community and friendship we lost during lockdown returned to us as a sweet gift, and we relish in it.
Page through the worlds history books, and you will find wars, famines, pestilence, concentration camps, annulation of ethnic groups, and other atrocities on every page. Jogging along, I could not help to wonder how much do we value our freedom? And who was prepared for any of those in the previous centuries? It is becoming more and more evident that the Big Bad Wolf has a Big Bad Brother who is far more dangerous and hard at work behind the scenes. He does not have our best interest at heart, and sadly his deception will be the ruin of many a “Happy-Go-Lucky” person! How prepared are we for a worst-case scenario? Do we ever give it some thought, or are we just contemplating our next activity during stages 3, 2, 1, and finally, boom back to normal, whatever normal would be? But then again, the great question is: what does “freedom” mean to YOU? Only you can answer that.
Before, I never noticed how many three-legged dogs were running around in our neighbourhood! There was a dog on three legs next to a signpost, a tree everywhere this morning! On the pavement, there they were on three legs, across the park, also on three legs. Judging by their wagging tails, they seemed happy with this temporary handicap, or is it legicap?. None of them displayed any signs of distress at all. Instead, they looked very proud and pompous. To show us that dogs also miss activities that instinctively make them a dog, and they seize the moment with all four paws!
So, my dear friends, we have reached the end of our “Freedom Day”, May the 1st here in SA, which wasn’t “free” anymore.
1/5/2020
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