Phuthu Stay Phut, Don't go!

My man is a stud.  He fights off slithery serpents in his spare time. But truth be told that although the right side of my brain revels in how masculine he is for escaping death by poison, the left side gets a tad freaked out.

He came home after a ride last week and enthusiastically told me that a Black Mamba launched itself at him whilst riding up one of the valley passes. I didn’t know if I was to respond with quite the same level of enthusiasm or to just turn a lighter shade of bird poo and then faint ungracefully onto the floor. I did neither. I responded with one of those incredulous-type tones reserved for mothers who’ve just discovered that their 3 year-olds can swear.  “A wha, what, WHAT attacked you? What did you say?”

“Yuh, I saw it sitting there and as I rode past, it obviously got a little irritated and all of a sudden it launched itself at me.” He said delightedly.

“And then what, what did you do hunni?” I interrupted.

“I just felt my heart beat faster and my lungs fill with more oxygen, I cycled faster and managed to escape those fangs from piercing my skin and leaving me mortally wounded…all alone in the middle of nowhere..forever”

I love dramatizing the scene, so no he didn’t really say that – It was more like:

Superjerm: “I just felt the adrenaline and did a quick bike sprint, but it was close.”

Me: “Yup, no big deal really, you almost just got killed by a snake, but you didn’t, great stuff.”

Oh my shattered nerves!

He’s a solitary creature this man of mine, he loves riding in the rugged and humid valley of 1000 hills all on his own and I suppose I would too if I was brave enough. A stones throw from our house, the valley descends hundreds of metres down to the Umsindusi and Umgeni Rivers below. It’s a peaceful place where you can soul-search amidst nature. It was our playground for Cape Epic training and now it’s Jem’s turf for TransAlp fine-tuning and of course, for fending off creatures of the wild.

Superjerm 1 – Black Mamba 0

The South African Fans did not disappoint on Saturday at the Absa Stadium in Durban.

Castle- the official sponsors of the Lions Tour to South Africa- were handing out free South African flags as we walked through the doors (it probably upset a few street vendors, I recon) every South African and his dog, had one.

As I looked down and experienced my first panoramic view of the manicured field, there was an overwhelming sense of excitement as all the Lions fans took their seats, red and white scattered menacingly around the stadium. I was well impressed with lions supporters turnout “Well done guys”- I think the South African fans were all still in pub at this point.

Five minutes before the start of the game a sea of green, descended on the grandstand as the South African supporters took their seats  in anticip……..pation of the Bokke ‘Klapping’ the Lions. John Smit led the boys out onto the field and the stadium erupted, thousands of South African flags waving proudly, what an awesome spectacle. But what really got my blood pumping and my goose bumps dancing, was when we sang the National anthem and thanks to Phuthu, we all knew the words. I’m curious though, as to why they didn’t sing the English National Anthem, I would appreciate it if anybody has any insight on this matter.

The game commenced and was all but a blur from start to a nail biting finish, my voice had disappeared from cheering and shouting and a little bit of swearing… ok a lot of swearing.

Congratulations to the Springboks, you played a great game, just don’t make so many changes to the team so quickly next time. Well done to ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira for receiving the man of the match award, you gave them ‘sticks’ in the scrum, keep it up!

We’ve got two serious rugby supporters in our office: Kerry and Katrine. They enthusiastically follow every game and then discuss it in detail on Monday mornings. This is usually when the BossLady and I excuse ourselves from the conversation. Don’t get me wrong – we love it when our team (which is any South African team, for that matter) wins, we are just not interested in the details. We’d rather have some tea.

And what happened this weekend?
In spite of myself, I tuned into SABC2 at 16:30 and watched the Bokke VS Lions game. All by lonesome as my husband was watching it elsewhere (an early Father’s Day treat. Nice of me, hey? I’m good that way. Okay, back to the rugby).
I frantically tried to keep the kids entertained with anything I could lay my hands on, as long as I could follow the game. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, biting my nails; especially towards the end. And yes, I experienced the unfamiliar urge to jump and shout in an unruly manner.

I was into it, wasn’t I?

Having only watched a few big games in my life, I don’t know that much about rugby. But in my very humble opinion I think the Lions played a good game and that the Bokke will have to give it their all in the next game. It was just a bit too close for comfort.

Point is, the Bokke won and that is all that matters. Now go out there and kick some lily white butt!