Darkness

Imagine living in a world that is defined by the rising and setting of the sun? As the children play with Legos (I brought several bags of Lego bricks, people, horses, boats - the favorites were a helicopter and a motorbike!) on the floor of my daughter's rondavel in the waning daylight, she begins to knead dough to bake herb bread for dinner. I look at her wall of notes, cards and pictures from family and friends. She works until it is almost completely dark before she lights candles to illuminate her home. She switches on her "kitchen light" - a solar flashlight inverted above her stove, as the bread bakes. We eat by candlelight and then, darkness.

As my daughter puts the scraps from dinner out for the dogs, I stand in the doorway and look out. There is no light, except for the veil of stars that covers the sky as far as I can see. I see the Milky Way, the Southern Cross, the Seven Sisters and Mars. Thousands and thousands and thousands of stars light the night sky and provide all that I need right now.

Inside her rondavel, it is pitch black. There is absolutely no light. I can't even make out the shape of my own hand in front of me. Without being able to see anything, I lie in bed and listen. It is 7:00 PM. YES, 7 PM. The day is ending for everyone. The sound of footsteps outside, the pig that moves around in the maize, a donkey. And the dogs that bark and provide a sense of security.

In the early morning, the first glimpse of dawn's light seeps through the slit in the curtain. Pale, at first, but as the sun rises over the tall mountains, bright sunlight washes over the land and another day begins.