Fooling Around at Fogarty's

It is one of the secret treasures of Port Elizabeth and you are now sworn to keep that secret if you are reading this.

If book fanatics hired a pirate and the pirate stored the treasure - then you have discovered it inside Fogartys' book store in Walmer Park shopping Centre, Port Elizabeth.

 Of course my kind of fooling around is looking at books. Each peek offers me a trip of great adventure that I would otherwise not be able to enjoy.

The treasure is not just in the pages, though they be enchanting in themselves.

 The collection of top class treasure is in the old fashioned values that are followed by the owner and the staff.

 The above picture shows the beautiful shop assistant Lindsey Nell doing her magic.

What prompted my desire to share this with the rest of PE and the world was an incident of unashamed eavesdropping that I engaged in recently.

I crept into my secret little bookstore the other day, intent on spending some time adventuring through numerous pages, when I noted a mature gentleman cuddled into the bookshelves. He looked like a skilled cuddler so I was tempted to ask him to cuddle in to me instead. Discounting that notion as possibly inappropriate, I was preparing to walk to the counter to ask a question of the assistant when he beat me to it.

It is not a large shop so overhearing what others say is compulsory. At least, this is what I reason to myself whenever I happen to hear other peoples' conversations. This is what he said;

"I think you have one book on order  and I will take this one today." He raised a book in the air and placed it carefully on the counter top. It was too obscured for me to see the title, so my curiosity remained unsatisfied. He continued, " This shop is great - you always respond to my every request. Whatever I want you find for me you do so. I have never had a problem and you always attend to me. Thank you." 

How often have you heard that in the last year, ten years?

What did the sales assistant reply? "Well thank you, that is our aim. We will always do our best to help you and get the books that you want".

So satisfying to hear. I am not making this up. I stood with my face turned away so they could not see my jaw so seriously dropped in astonishment. This is best service in action.

I could barely contain myself and rushed to the counter as soon as he left and said "He must be related to someone here or you must have paid him to say that"  No, she assured me, he was a regular customer with particular arty crafty interests and the staff enjoyed him as much as he appeared to enjoy them.

"Relish these moments"  I said to myself in appreciation. A small retail store that is threatened by several mega chain stores, is holding their own through excellent, respectful, caring service. These moments inspire me. I turn to them when I am feeling overwhelmed by bad news out there and in my own life. In fact, they sustain me. I basked in the mutual appreciations flying around the store and left buoyant and skipping. Actually, the old knees would not take the skipping, but you know what I mean.

An Island of Beauty.

There are some people on this planet who go about their business quietly.

Vincent Chizawari is one of these creatures. He moves with quiet grace. His hands do a slow, steady dance, moving here and there as if they know what to do without the person behind them intervening in any way. Miracles appear from these hands, the raw material is his dance partner, sharing the unheard rhythms to cooperate in creating beauty.

Entering a large general store in Port Elizabeth, one does not expect to be confronted with a little section of heaven. One expects the usual clash and clamour of shopping trolleys, the irritable crowds and the unattractive shelves and banners of the typical supermarket. If those are present, they go unnoticed.

Mr Chizawari is the centre of  his island of beauty  on the left of the entrance to one of South Africas'  major supermarket chains - Pick n Pay, in the Walmer Park shopping centre in Port Elizabeth.

He creates a feast for the eyes like this:

And miniature versions like this:

I have spent most of the last 6 years unemployed and very partially employed, dealing with trauma and sheer desperation.  I found myself a few years ago standing in front of his sea of flowers, relishing the serenity, the delicacy of colours and textures and the sheer exuberance of the beauty of the blossoms and their harmonious constructions.

I now take every possible opportunity to seek the restoration of my soul, there, at Mr Chizawari's creations.  His work is a wonderful example of heart in action, of a job that his talent and heart has made into a service to humanity. Thank you Mr Chizawari.

Momsie Must Fall.

As I pulled my car into the driveway, Guru Momsie sauntered up to greet me. 

"How was the neighbourhood watch meeting?" I asked her as we walked to the front door. 

 She tossed her head with mild amusement. "Old Billy from number 23 said it was time

 the government was booted out because crime has only increased since they came in to power. 

He ranted for 30 minutes and thankfully someone suggested we have early tea. 

Aunty Jo then said that she knows who the petty thieves are, because she has been watching. 

We all stood in stunned silence.' It's Billys grandchildren' she triumphantly informed us. 

Billy threw a fit and walked out, and Aunty Jo burst into tears because she meant it as a joke."

"So the list of decisions and actions needing to be taken will wait for another month?" I sighed.

She nodded in affirmation, and said in a hesitant tone. 

"You know I do not approve of the violence and immature behaviour shown on most television

 programmes and movies. And I certainly expect better behaviour from the members of 

the Neighbourhood Watch,  but I guess they are so accustomed to seeing 

the tantrums and poor impulse control day after day on television that they have lost 

any mature skills they might have possessed. But I am seduced and highly entertained 

by the real life drama of my neighbourhood and I wonder if it actually provides better,

 more immediate entertainment for me."

"At what cost?" I asked, feeling the demand of house chores and a gnawing hunger 

requiring my attention. "It's a toss -up right now". Momsie mused.

 "I cannot decide between enjoying the entertainment value 

of my neighbourhoods' addiction to emotionally intense drama and histrionics, 

versus actively creating a Watch system that actually works".  She raised her paws her indecision.

"Well, my dear Guru. It is you who says "Sometimes building a working toilet is more important than 

fighting about it and walking around in the  stench of human excrement' . 

But my hunger was growing so I hastily added;

  "So shall I prepare supper while you check on what needs to be done in the garden?"

"I must be getting old" She tossed her head in self mockery as she walked out the door and  

called back "When your devotees start quoting your own words back to you and they are right!"

She watched me while I ate. "I find it astonishing that you humans have still not cottoned on to 

what this world is all about." She looked at me carefully to see if the food was addressing my mood, 

in case there was a remnant of my irritability waiting to surface.

 I nodded in a carefully constructed un-irritable fashion, not willing to disturb the sensation 

of the taste of the food in my mouth enough to answer verbally. 

I loved it when she spoke about the consciousness of humans. It always fascinated me. 

I have yet to reveal to her that I understand very little. 

After all, she holds a high status and I do not want to disturb her honourable equilibrium.

"This world of yours is such a fascinating mix of emotions, thoughts and physicality. 

Very few of you wondrous beings have realised that most of the power lies in the unseen level of thoughts 

and emotions. So you all remain unconscious slaves to those hidden aspects of self and

then act physically in ways that bring you grief, usually to your shocked surprise."

 I confess to being a bit disappointed. This was not new information. 

I did not let on, I just nodded more thoughtfully while greedily piling more food on my plate.

 "I am sure you are disappointed with what I have just said," Momsie continued, "but I want to add that…"

"I cannot bear it when you do that" I interrupted, exasperated and amused. "It is downright scary".

She laughed, "We have far more time, and I dare say skill,

 to observe and sense your real thoughts than you hominids do. 

Your disappointment was written all over you. Anyway, may I continue?" I gestured my capitulated assent.

"When there is a choice to get something useful done, as in our aborted Watch meeting today, 

members would rather bring all their past issues to bear, dump all their suspicions and bitterness

 into the present and sabotage the current need. Imagine if us felines did that?

 Here I am stalking a bird, and Joey from next door says from an overhanging branch in the tree;

 'you have to give that one to me because my forefathers were victimised by your forefathers' 

or,  'when you  had your kittens they made such a terrible noise that I could not catch a single morsel to eat, 

so you owe me. ' So my lunch flies away and Joey starts a "Momsie Must Fall" campaign".

 I coughed to hide my amusement at her indignation and then choked on my food.

Once I had washed the tears from my eyes, drunk some water and wiped my mouth,

 I asked Momsie what she would do if she had such a challenge from Joey. 

"I would offer some of my meal and then say 'Joey, In all that time you spent  obsessing about 

how you feel victimised by me and others, talking about it, planning to yell at me about it, 

then waiting to yell at me and then yelling at me, and then organizing community protests

and twitter campaigns,  you could have caught at least 3 birds. 

So let us work together to improve our hunting skills'.

No drama. Just Guru Momsie in peace practice.

"And if Joey creates a Momsie Must Fall campaign?" I asked curiously.

 "Then you can create a viral post of pictures of me with the heading 

"Momsie Has Fallen" and there I would lie on the ground, 

fallen into a warm spot of sun. It will fool everyone." She said.