The Oupa and the Sea

My Afrikaans Grandfather

Beer and jokes weekend golf and holidays and practising his swing, they said his drive wasn't so far  but it was straight. He worked it all out with geometry.

When he finally was on pension the pupils on the way to school were a bit worried told he was on the lawn early every morning in his pyjamas practising his swing. He had made this contraption with very strong elastic chords and tent pegs he took that everywhere.

They said as a small boy at sunday lunch he was given a bit of beer “Yyeggch!” glass, “more!” He liked beer a lot and he liked a lot of beer. He was jovial very good at entertaining with telling jokes he knew lots and lots he was very good at it. The colleagues said he liked women, just a stolen kiss or so.

A brilliant engineer he was a legend and dozens of patents to his name, as well as famous for solving mathematical problems. My grandpa believed in hard work and was of complete integrity. He was a bigshot. Work hard and play hard you may say.

His instructions for successful study were: 1. Apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. 

They had nine children my mother the eldest, ouma (grandma) was in charge of finances she ran the household with discipline and military efficiency.

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A holiday trip started already once on the road it was part of the holiday, playing games in the car stopping at a picnic table, party-egg sandwiches a thermos flask sweet coffee and stretching legs.
Sea holidays were the best often camping all much enjoyed these people knew how to holiday that's for sure.

Grandpa was always tinkering with little pieces of wire and his little table vice I don't think anyone knows what he was doing, and always had his portable radio for the news perhaps music as well.

All the little fish I caught with a hand line in the lagoon I brought him, he fried them in a pan and delicately picked for the tiny bones. It seemed to amuse him, definitely he did like fish. I loved fishing alone and even at night but always in the surf a river or lagoon – rocks are too dangerous, best of all always is in the rain I find very romantic somehow. For bait squid doesn't fall off and perhaps prawns or shrimp.

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My brother stepped on a scorpion by the fire, still little he was screaming blue murder someone said you're not going to die! At which abruptly he stopped and “oh”.

Once I brought a stingray to the beach a large one. I learned a very important lesson that day, I wanted help him by taking the hook out, sinker and all and throwing him back. He whipped me completely unexpected  he stung me with his tail it was excruciating pain the whole arm kind of numb hard to describe and leaving a scar on my hand as reminder.

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We haven't been invited since my grandpa passed, little boys grow up, marry and start their own families people go their own way and lose touch. There were many such happy times and holidays on the farm as well. Weekends mostly our aunts also took us to the museums and movies and the zoo it was great fun all kinds of outings. The aunts were very good to us.

Always with my brother and our cousin I think we were very fortunate we learnt a lot and rich of experience at such a small age and many adventures, sometimes I wonder how we survived it all.