“Someday I will lie under blue skies
In a hay field that holds me like home
I'll ask forgiveness with God as my witness
For straying so far on my own”
- Zach Bryan -
I am standing in the holding pen at sunset. The February sun is slowly sinking out west after another scorching day and the clouds are taking on bright pinks and oranges as I’m turning my gaze towards the ridge line, my eyes searching for the cows. I can pick them out in the tall grass about a kilometer away and I notice the young calves jumping and playing in the cool evening air while the mothers keep a weary eye out for danger. I can feel the sting of the summer sun on my arms and nose and I reach into the cooler for an ice cold beer. It’s the end of another beautiful day. A day full of challenges and small victories. The full spectrum of emotions….. frustration, anger, gratitude, fear and longing. The work is overwhelming and never ending, the demands high and the price for failure even higher. I can hear my sisters boys playing with the dogs at the old farm house, their new home, and my folks talking on the front porch where my dad has started a fire for us to cook a few steaks. I can smell the wood smoke coming from my workers houses up the road and the laughter of hard working men around an open fire, relaxing after another day of back breaking fencing and herding cattle. I’ve been out with them the whole day and I know. My hands hurt and my body feels stiff. A beer is in order and if a person can still find a smile after a day like this I’ll be the last one to complain.
Most of the time I keep my mind occupied by the task at hand. Seasonal responsibilities, making hay for the tough winter months, treating and processing new arrivals in the herd and planning for the future. Expanding the operation, growing the business and ensuring security for everyone. It all takes humility, courage, diligence and showing up every day. It demands learning from setbacks and applying valuable lessons to preserve this hundred and twenty eight year legacy. Somedays I feel like cutting loose and letting it all go but then I think of that belt my grandpa made out of baling twine and the steel wire hooks for his jacket because he was too poor to afford doing it any different and trying to make ends meet on the farm. I think of the hardship and the sacrifice my parents, grandparents and the two generations before made and I get up, dust off my hat and get back to work. I am not entitled to anything. I have to earn it.
After high school I tried to get away from Tygerfontein as far and as quickly as possible but as I had my adventures and career I found myself gravitating to the place. I don’t believe in destiny but I do believe in responsibility. I guess it is that. It is my turn to take this place forward. My responsibility to break old, bad patterns and to leave something better behind for those two freckled faced boys playing in the garden. I still enjoy my day job but I’m plotting my escape. It’s getting harder and harder to drive back to the city these days. The dead end materialism, the mad rush and impatience and intolerance of people. The soft men in the business suits and well manicured beards driving around in vape filled pick-up trucks that will never see a dirt road is getting too much for me. I still believe the best thing about Gauteng is the N1 South out of it.
The Giant Strides have some plans to bring you a few shows this Autumn and I am getting ready to record some solo acoustic versions of my new songs in historic buildings in and around Potchefstroom. The President Pretorius House and the Goetz and Fleischack Museum to name a few. We will be recording them as high quality videos and they will be released on my website and YouTube. I’m very excited about it.
Thank you for reading this blog and for supporting my artistic endeavours. The songs are always coming and looking at the state of the world and the country there is no shortage of material. People are struggling out there. Lovers drift apart, families are broken and everyone is fighting a hard battle in this world. Let’s be the change we would like to see. Let’s be kind and treat others like we want to be treated.
JB