Walking this morning in a garden which turns 100 in one week
started me thinking about what this great age means to us,
and I cannot but draw a parallel to this country’s most loved
hero.
Nelson Mandela, our much loved and deeply revered ‘father’,
at the grand age of 94 is battling age and is currently the
name on most lips, as he again struggles with a recurring
infection.
Why are most of us so reluctant to grapple with the inevitable?
Mandela’s Gold Strelitzia.
Is it because we as a nation have failed him?
Did we listen but not hear Madiba’s words?
If we were able to honour this man, by living by his example
each and every one of us, and nurture and respect our fellow man
by encouraging growth and integrity,
in the same way as gardeners tend and nurture their seedlings
and saplings… then the essence of who the father of this nation
is would flourish and he would live on within us, in perpetuity and peace.
Not only would Kirstenbosch be one of the most successful
self-sustaining Botanical gardens in the world, it could also
be housed in one of the most magnificent countries universally.
Forest fig
There are huge and enveloping trees growing in this garden,
planted 100 years ago, they too will leave, but generations to come
will be the richer for their lives, and although we will honour
their end and feel a deep sadness and sense of loss,
the soil will be well prepared
for the next flourish of abundant growth.
Wild Almond.
anspired 