Can’t we just be blooming nice and keep on blossoming?

Every year, at more or less this time, my neighbour reminds me that the seasons are about to change. No, he doesn’t personally walk over and hand me a calendar. But he does have a magnificent apricot tree that somehow manages to cover itself in the most exquisite blossoms.

This year was no different. It seems that the blossoms are all members of the same WhatsApp or Facebook group. I can just imagine them posting on the group in hushed type, deciding on when to miraculously appear one morning, screaming “Surprise!” when I open my bedroom curtain at the crack of dawn.

They did so last Friday. I bet my neighbour is also on that group. The way he smiled as he lifted a finger to greet me later in the day, was just so smug.

It must be quite a daunting task to synchronise so many blossoms into action.

Without being rude or mean to my family or friends or the community at large, my groups don’t seem to have the ability to achieve something that glorious.

Load shedding, taxi strikes and land expropriation seem to dominate every conversation on social media, along with cash-in-transit heists. The last topic actually warrants a group of its own. No, I’m not planning one, but I do like to get my daily update on which road or mall to avoid, thank you very much.

Is it just me or are the robbers in action more often than the Lions? They definitely seem to be more successful.

The load shedding group is actually very handy, when it’s accurate. Unfortunately, that’s not very often. And Eskom isn’t helping by using load shedding as a negotiating tool with trade unions.

I know that most South Africans have no ambition to join any group apart from the blossoms.

The beauty is that we don’t have to. Spring Day is just around the corner. It serves as a reminder that no matter how cold the winter, the seasons will change, the trees will spring back to life and once again produce the most delicious fruit.

Wouldn’t it be magnificent if all South Africans decide to blossom with the trees, and to keep on blossoming? Go on, create your own blossom group, I dare you. You’ll surprise more than just your neighbours.

Danie Toerien.

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