Patensie …

Want to know where oranges are grown here in South Africa? …here in the agricultural town of Pantensie …where everything is centered around the cultivation of citrus …

We left to mid-morning Sunday to meet friends that had a wonderful secret to share with us …I had never been to Pantensie previously …so chomping at the bit off we went🚗 luxuriating in the warm winter sun after rain and wind that was the most ferocious since I arrived …From Port Elizabeth (home base) …passing Loerie (famous for the South African ‘Naartjie’ (Mandarin, satsuma, tangerine, easy peeler, or kid gloves ) “the result of a cross between a tangerine and a Seville orange” _{https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-21-sweet-on-naartjies/}

… (and on through🚗🚗🚗 Hankey 😂 (I always call it Hanky Pankey) …yet there is a sadness there…as the final resting place of Sarah Bartmann – a Khoi-San woman whose life is a horrifying example of humanities inhumanness …she had been made an international sensation of objectification …story for another day😥

It is still surprising when we’re invited for a lunch get-to-gather that what I would have considered second rate is now perfect …South Africa has no pretenses and is a wonderful respite …here we sit in the shade of a tree to enjoy the surrounding beauty and take in the intoxicating smells of the citrus blossoms …and take the time to ” just be “…

Cappuccino’s as good as any Starbuck’s

I have grown to love the openness of the restaurants and homes …windows and doors open to invite the fresh air and the warmth of the sun that erases the cares and worries of the day …

The area is guarded by the majestic Cockscomb …named in 1921 because the 5 jagged crests supposedly to resemble a Rooster’s comb …part of the Groot Winterhoek range …

The town was privately owned at first …privately awarded to David Keyser jnr. …in 1852 it was officially proclaimed a town …The name Patensie has a Hottentot origin and means “lêplek van die beeste” (where the cattle lie)…_{“Hottentot” was the name for the Khoi people, now it is considered a pejorative & extremely offensive term and is not used. *Hottentot is the term fashioned by the Dutch (later Afrikaner) settlers, probably in imitation of the clicks in their language. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khoekhoe}

🤣Apparently this is an ongoing thing …the stealing oranges …he tells the story of when he and his daughter would fly into the area and he’s do the same thing …stolen fruit is all the sweeter

On our way home …we passed through Humansdorp …a part of the farming district …named after founders of the Dutch Reformed church there _{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humansdorp}

More Memories to be Treasured …for nothing is really lost, if we remember

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For me…it is always a heart wrenching moment …passing through the ‘townships’ … built usually on the edges of a town or city …underdeveloped and segregated areas …building in the townships are not regulated by the goverment …homes sometimes being built illegally …meaning that most often the homes are lacking basic services, such as electricity, water, and sewerage …gangs often being a way of life beginning around the ages of 9-12 _{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Township_(South_Africa)} …

Let us remember the poor, and not forget kindness to strangers; above all, let us love God with all our soul, and might, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves.

Athanasius of Alexandra