Meiringspoort. (Photo: Tony Jackman)
By Tony Jackman – 20 December 2024
Roads dissipate like shape-shifting mirages when the stories of the unfolding years dissolve into what’s really in front of you. As the final days of the year are swallowed up, you cast an eye over your shoulder and realise how far you’ve all come.
It’s been five years since “all that” came our way. Pandemic and imaginary journeys recited from your front room. Masks and hand washing, a premium on hospital beds. Shuttered in our homes, watching multitudes of sea birds swoop and sway above West Coast beaches on TV while the humans hide. Sourdough and banana bread and skinny people turning to fat. And the news on the breeze: so-and-so died, did you hear?…