Friday, February 15, 2008

Fill my heart with birdsong


As a little girl I used to relish spending time with my grandfather early in morning, before sunrise. While my grandmother prepared coffee and homemade rusks, he would identify each bird as they start chirping at the first light of day.

These memories are flooding through me as I lie down for a hot stone massage at the Mangwanani Day Spa in Johannesburg. The open air African huts where the treatments take place are within close vicinity of the Kgotla dam, which is a sanctuary for Africa birds.

I can see a perfect little nest from the massage bed and the birdsong is much more comforting than the usual elevator music that float through most spas in the world. Perhaps it’s just me, but being that close to nature is relaxing in itself and helps to bring about inner balance once again.

The massage therapist kneads my muscles with smooth, hot stones and I feel at one with the birds and the sky and the breeze. I open my eyes and spot a single white cloud loitering in the sky. Perhaps there will be a thunderstorm later.

My eyes well up with tears as the tension leaves my body and I become aware of the love that the therapist is putting into this treatment. She doesn’t realize that she exudes love, she just has a big heart. All African people do. Our hearts are as big as the blue skies under which we were born.

Where does all the hate that brings darkness to this continent come from when there is so much love in the hearts of the people? There must indeed be a fine line between love and hate. May I never cross that line.

For more, see http://www.mangwanani.co.za/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great morning coffee- rusks and birdsong- it doesn't get better than that. Do you remember the wood peckers that they had in their garden in Potchefstroom? Its a good thing to be nostagic for the people who make you feel like home! Memories,family, people, Africa and massages......