Months...Years... a Decade and more if I am correct.
Still a man-made disaster is sticking its head out to tell us that is not being "Cleaned Up".
Seeing how our beautiful nature, fresh air and much needed rain is being toxified once again. Ongoing. With no real change. Lots of meetings. Lots of discussions. Lots of promises. Lots of what? Nothingness.
This morning, I was rudely awakened from my work by the scream of my one child, "MOM you have to come look!" Thought the world ended as a mother would hearing that tone of voice. “Close enough” I thought when I stood at the side door of my home in such a pretty town, with the Jackal's Vlei running into the ocean the past 2 months. All that toxic water, running into our ocean. Polluting our underground water systems, and us eventually. All the animals that need the water to survive. “It’s an estuary damit” was my thought a few weeks back when I heard the rain is coming again. Flooding our nature with much needed rain, just to poison it at the end of the landfill.
“Now? now what?” I though. It’s at the side of the landfill and the wind today is giving it much needed air to continue burning. At least its blowing over the stable. Aah the stables. I am not allowed to talk about the stables anymore I remind myself, or the horses air at the stables. I look at my other child, who has a horse there, she looks like she is about to cry. I tell her, “Okey I'll go check” thinking where a mask is, I’ve been ill for two months I can’t run into that smoke saving a horse.
The wind is carrying the toxic fumes into town. The Stables is safe. For now. But it’s with a very conflicted heart that I look at the smoke passing the stables flooding our town. "All those people" I think.
My head is sore, I notice. “Got to go” I say to myself. After driving past the landfill, I notice not one of the people who is trying to extinguish the burn have protective masks on. No gear of some sort or form. "Their lungs" I think. I stop. Should I go tell them again. After so many discussions about it in person. Still no masks. I start the car again. I sigh. After so many years, why would they listen today. So, I drive home to get to a place where I’ve closed all the windows before I left to go to “the outside”, where its toxic from this morning.
"What do we do now" I wonder, the burn is on the slope. "They won’t be able to extinguish it" I hear myself thinking. I sigh. Let’s hope they do. I told myself gently, wanting to cry like a toddler that has seen its favourite toy being devoured by flames. "It’s so unfair" I think again. Nature and the oceans have done nothing to us to deserve this madness. Not to me, not to anyone really. But she has received the gift again today from her humans…a burning toxic and polluted one.