There, You See!

Ringing the Bell (Apologies to John Donne)

… any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee…

Another book I grabbed from my cache has some of my favourite things in it: goats, gnus, ostriches, lizards, a praying mantis, spider, welwitschia , and many other. Even Skorp is there, I see.

Picture from Tony Grogan’s South African Sketchbook (copyright, the artist)

At the time I bought the book, I never imagined that I would not be living with these things surrounding my every day. I can almost feel the warmth spill out of the yellowing pages.

Receipt; Dust Jacket

Tony Grogan‘s work has been published in other books as well. Most are not available in bookstores any more— which makes me glad to have this copy.

Alas, Mukurob is no more; it collapsed in 1988,

“There you See!” ( South African Sketchbook; copyright Tony Grogan)

I have stayed over at Matjiesfontein, the railway town in the Karoo, once; the old Lord Milner Hotel still offers rooms to travellers.

Lord Milner Hotel, Matjiesfontein (copyright Tony Grogan)

Another antique town, also built because of mining in the area, not diamonds, but gold, is Pilgrim’s Rest:

Pilgrim’s Rest (copyright the artist)

I recall my father, highly indignant at being given one fried egg for breakfast, poking at the hotel’s menu with a cross finger: “It says eggs and bacon!” , as we squirmed.

The Wishing-Well Witch is happy to have found this book again too.