Growing up as a little boy in the villages of Lady Frere, I’d wake up very early in the morning to go look for my father’s cows in the mountains. It was a weekend thing, just to check if they’re still ok, not sick, or one missing
Sometimes I’d be gone for the entire day because I can’t find one or two of the cows, and that simply meant going back again and again until I find them. Sometimes you look for it in the mountains, only to find out the damn thing has been sleeping in someone’s yard for several days
In some cases, you get a message while at school that there’s cattle dipping the following day, so you must get home and rush to the mountains to fetch the cows so that you can take them the next day
There was no fun on that because you must get to the top before sunset, meaning you have to rush as fast as you can up the hill, then rush down with the cows to get home before it gets too late, as the mountain is never the safest place you wanna be at night
In olden days, before electricity became so accessible even in small towns, as village people, we used wood for a whole lot of things, and that wood wasn’t fetching itself from the mountains to your yard. It was a trip that needed to be taken. Otherwise, cooking would be a challenge, keeping that home warm would be a challenge, and I had my fair share of those trips
As Xhosa men, we also have the opportunity to experience living in the mountains, possibly camping for a reasonable amount of time. Keeping a distance from anything and anyone. It’s fun until you start missing everything and everyone you left behind
I’ve walked in a storm, hours and hours away from home. All you wish it could pass before it washes you down the hill with everything else that you see falling due to the storm. I’ve walked in the fog where you only see right in front of your feet, and you wonder if you're not gonna fall off the cliff at any moment. I’ve walked on the snow, it’s not that bad when it’s still falling, but wait until it starts melting. I’ve walked in places where you're constantly looking behind you, worried that no dangerous animal is sneaking up on you. I’ve jumped over so many snakes, had to kill a lot more, so I’m cool with the mountains
That’s why I’m not fascinated by climbing mountains, I’ve done that enough to do it again just for fun
To relax, live life where everything is just around the corner was the idea when I moved to the city. I cannot be climbing mountains for no tangible reason
I know how fun that is to some people, taking from those who occasionally share with me what they did, where they went to, and why they’re hiking, but I also understand the value of choosing your battles well and why they say "stick to your lane"
So to avoid all the drama, I’m just gonna get myself a village girl, and we’ll both be happy keeping a distance from the mountains. Someone who knows how it feels to walk on that mountain with a load of firewood on her head. I’m certain I won’t ever get a message that says “baby, let’s go hiking” or get woken up early to go hiking because she’ll be fine with no mountains in sight, just like I am
I’m also certain that she won’t wake me up to take a walk, leaving a car behind, because we know exactly how that feels. We walked more than we wanted to, just to get a simple unliced loaf of bread. We walked for so long to get to school. We walked to get a transport to town. We even walked to get to our bedroom because it's another house on the other end of a village-sized yard. You think twice about going to see your neighbor because that is another 5 or more minutes walk
So I’m just gonna get myself someone who won’t judge me for driving to my neighbor's house just because it’s raining, someone who understands why I pay to get every heavy work done, someone who won’t judge me when I decide not to do anything or go anywhere the entire day
Because she’ll know I’ve walked enough for one lifetime
Picture #1 by Austin Ban On Unsplash.com
Picture #2 by Angura Gabriel on Pexels.com
Picture #3 by Kampus Production
Picture #4 by Internet
Picture #5 by Internet
