Spring Bonfire

I love living in the country.
I love my neighbours.
I love Spring Bonfire.

One of the treats of not living in a townhouse complex or suburb you can only access through a boom gate, is that we actually, really, do speak with our neighbours. We don't just speak, we kuier lekker. We catch up on the skinner, discuss security, argue about sport and share food and jokes.
The kids, regardless of age, bolt into the trees and veld with torches and adventure in their hearts. Our local tree fella hauls in the dried wood collected over winter.
The blaze is ignited while the sun sets and out come the creative cooking skills. Pot bread. Stick bread. Sausages of all descriptions placed on a stick and held over the flames. Braai meat. Salads. Fruit. Nuts in skins. Marshmallows... lightly toasted and smothered with chocolate sauce.
As the stars shift overhead, the jackets come on and the younger, exhausted kids are put to bed on mattresses in the back of bakkies. The older kids gather and scare the hell out of each other with ghost stories. The adults' conversation slips to aliens, conspiracy theories, books and guns.
Eventually, we part company (with plenty hugs) and head for home and bed. Some of us only manage this at 5 in the morning (can't let a good sunrise get wasted).

Maplotters Rock!

BTW Maplotter neighbours refers to anyone who lives on a piece of land larger than a hectare within a 20km radius. Boere are the same but on a larger scale.