The sapphire/purple majesty of this immense Jacaranda tree

It has been good these past few days to have time to adjust again to this culture, and settle into former familiarities of place and people. I’ve had afternoon teas and dinners with various friends of old, and caught up on Sabie chitchat. Mid-November is the tail end of Jacaranda blooming season and I couldn’t resist stopping to photograph this magnificent old specimen in the centre of Sabie on my way to Simile township this morning.

Doris, in turquoise, is fully focused as she swings into the exercise session

As is their tradition, the gogos sang their welcome and individual greetings to me, and I responded with my good wishes of caring and sharing from the Vernon Grannies. Then I jumped into their activities with both feet … literally. It was exercise day for the first half hour and the weekly physiotherapist who leads them was held up at the hospital. So I did what any retired ballet teacher would do and led them in exercises until the physio arrived. She carried on, giving them a double dose.

Milly translates with gusto for the dietician

I suspect they were glad to sit down for the visiting dietician. She had a hand-out for each gogo, with pictures to accompany her talk on “Falls” – the danger of broken bones and of some medications that cause dizziness, and the need for regular exercise and calcium rich foods, with pictured examples of milk, cheese, sardines and spinach. I was pleased to see their interest and all the questions they directed to the dietician.

While this was going on another group of about 20 people sat under the smaller tree. Joy Burton explained that they were waiting their turn to see Social Services Assistance about pension problems, child allowances and so on. In the past people had to travel to Graskop (north of Sabie), but now the Anglican Church has given Social Services permission to use the old Home Based Care shack on the premises and their agents come here, making life less onerous all around.