Book Review- For One More Day

Well, this is one of those books that requires an imagination from page one. The author, Mitch Albom, seems to assume a lot of poetic license. I don't know if you are allowed to write in the 4th person but this guy does... to know what I'm talking about you kinda got to read the book. Anyways, i dont want to write a long review, but only to say that this read was easy (i read it in about 3 hours) and at times very emotive. It is a story about a guy who at the end of hope and angry in life and he gets to spend one day with his deceased mother (you feeling the new age vibies?? he he) The day is a day that changes him completely and opens his eyes to the reality that gnaws away the constructs of his perceptions of his parents..

There were times when I was captivated my the authors imagery and the way he presented ideas and at other times found him rather uninspiring. But on the whole it is a book that i would recommend to most people. To anyone that has battled with a relationship with their mother then this is a must-read i reckon. It opens the eyes of children to the heart of a mother.

And that's all i got to say about that really.

the trip

so at the moment i am in drakensbburg... right in the middle (where the peaks are the grandest) and i have had a fantastic past few hours. let me tell you a little bit about how it began:

yesterday 12 noon:
i go past the bottle store and pick up some red wine. i am a novice at this but there are people around me so i pretend to know what i'm looking for- truth be told, i don't even know where the wine section is! i finally find it and being all too aware of the people around me, i pick up 2 bottles and pretend to compare them. the outcome of my purchase had already been decided on price but i had to look like i was choosing my wine based upon the fact that it was 'vintage' or that it was 'born of sun, air, rain, and rich african soils.' what rubbish! so that was purchased and i popped my wine into the boot of my fully-tanked, clean and reliable silver dragon (otherwise known as my 1992 VW jetta) and hit the road.

yesterday 1pm:
it has been an hour on the road and i am starting to panic. it looks like i have either underestimated the distance of the trip or the pace of the silver dragon. the latter seems like a betrayal so i resolve on the fact that the distance over time equation is not in my favour. i will miss the first half of the rugby for sure.

yesterday 2:30pm:
i am still 150ok away from my final destination and a tv set. i am flying through valleys and around sharp corners. the silver dragon is proving his lordship of the road. i know it is beautiful around me and i am tempted to slow down and look but i have become a carnal man driven by pure instinct. rugby. that single word makes my right foot heavier and i press on.

yesterday 3pm:
KICK OFF! I am still 70km away. I look at my trusty radio. Surely finding a good signal is unlikely out here in the mountains?! i decide to try anyway. 99.7fm... and there it is!!! RECEPTION! i would have prefered it to have been the reception of dragon peaks resort but this was still something unexpected and something that tasted like heaven. i hear the welcome sounds of nkosi sikilela crystal clear resonating in my car as it speeds hurriedly along. my mothers warnings of 'drive safely my son' have been long forgotten. my heart swells with pride as i hear the cheer of the crowd and the blast of the whistle...

yesterday 3:30pm
according to the radio commentators we are all over the wallabies and this seems like a game to watch. the mixed afrikaans english commentary has started to really bug me because i only know whats going on half the time. i see the resort. i turn in. the is a guard at the boom. i drive up at pace. "lift the boom buddy..." i think loudly enough for him to maybe hear. as i get nearer he realises that im not stopping. he starts to lift the boom thinking that only a bona fide guest could display such confidence behind the wheel. the boom is now high enough for me to sneak through and i know it. as i approach he scans my windscreen for my sticker (or whatever i am meant to have). But it's too late. I am in! I sure won that little contest! he he! The carnal instinct has grown. The 10km speed limit in the resort is somewhat laughable.. In 2 minutes flat I am seated in front of the box. The green and gold so much more colourful than the voices of the radio guys.

yesterday (time unknown)
it has been a nail biter of a game and we are into the last 5 minutes. Larkam clears. Down Steyn's throat. He lines up. I think 'no ways'. Camera angle is perfect. The ball floats. My heart bounces. Up it goes. And it's there!! Flip, WHAT A KICK!! Thank goodness i didn't have to hear that on radio. That was a feast for the eyes not the ears...
Scores are level. Momentum positively ours. We move forward again. Ruck. Steyn in position. Pass. Strike. Clean. I realise that the net happiness of the south african population hangs on the progress of that little white ball. It's progess pleasing, i rise to my feet in the most united south african movement since the soweto riots (yes, the game was on youth day and that little sentence took me awhile so go and read it again will you?). South African's stand. From Boksburg to Boputhutswana we are on our feet. Nationwide there are at least 23 million high fives in the 10 seconds to follow. Flip, this is going to be a good weekend. I can feel it already.

yesterday 8pm
Im still smiling. The fresh berg air fills my lungs and makes me feel so alive. I sit with my mother and step-father and chat about the mundane things that parents and kids love chatting about. At time it gets slightly serious but on the whole it is just chit-chat. And it's great. I'm here, exams are over, i love the people im with and the whole horizon is screaming God's majesty in a way that makes the screams of the newlands crowd sound like whispers.

You just know when something is going to be great.