Pajama Party

Today is just rain, rain and more rain. The first rains of the year have fallen. In spite of the rain Matthew, Maxy, the Italian Greyhound, and Brian had a pajama party and stayed up very late. The rains reminded me of the Toto's song "Africa" which brings back fond memories of my student days in Transki. The chorus went like this ...

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you,
It's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.
I bless the rains down in Africa.
It's gonna take some time to do the things we never had.

There is another song which has sprung up from the depths of my memory. It is "Stuur groete aan Mannetjies Roux" by Laurika Rauch. François (Mannetjies) du Toit Roux is a legendary rugby hero who played center for the Springboks in the 1960s. Anyway after some digging way back in my my CD collection, I dusted off the CD and played the song loud ...

My oom se motor is 'n ou masjien
(My uncle’s motor is an old machine)
Hy maak dit vol met dieselien
(He fills it with dieseline)
En hy sing in die strate as hy ons kom sien
(And he sings in the streets when he sees us arriving)
My oom is oud en ek is skaars dertien
(My uncle is old and I am just gone thirteen)

My oom drink koffie en my tannie tee
(My uncle drinks coffee and my aunt tea)
Ek vra oor die reën en hy sê ja-nee
(I ask about the rain and he answers yes-no)
En hy drink soet koffie met sy een oog toe
(And he drinks sweet coffee with his one eye closed)
En hy praat weer oor die drie van Mannetjies Roux
(And he talks again about the try by Mannetjies Roux)

Chorus: O stuur ons net so 'n bietjie reën
(Oh send us just a little bit of rain)
My oom het 'n tenk vol dieselien
(My uncle has a tank full of dieseline)
En seën my pa en seën my ma
(And bless my dad and bless my mom)
En my oom op sy plaas in Afrika
(And my uncle on his farm in Africa)

Maar my oom het gesukkel op die plaas
(But my uncle struggled on the farm)
Want die son was te warm en die reën te skaars
(Because the sun is too hot and the rain scarce)
En die man van die bank het net sy kop geskud
(And the man from the bank just shook his head)
Want my oom ja my oom was te diep in die skuld
(Because my uncle yes my uncle was too deep in debt)

My oom se motor is 'n ou masjien
(My uncle’s motor is an old machine)
Hy maak dit vol met dieselien
(He fills it with dieseline)
En hy ry na die lande in die oggenddou
(And he rides towards the lands in the morning)
Die lande vaal en sy oë grou
(The lands are barren and his eyes gritty)

Repeat chorus

En as jy in die oggend in die lande stap
(And as you walk the lands in the morning)
Hoor jy nog sy motor met sy klak-klak-klak
(You can still hear his motor’s cluck-cluck-cluck)
Maar my oom ja my oom se oë's nou albei toe
(But my uncle, yes my uncle’s eyes are both now closed)
In sy brief stuur hy groete ann Mannetjies Roux
(In his letter he sends greetings to Mannetjies Roux)

Repeat chorus