Arrived in Zimbabwe from Canada on August 1st, 1982 – still here.

Thoughts on four decades in Zimbabwe…

A short forty years…
Still crazy after all these years…
Many times I’ve been alone, many times I’ve cried…
A brief history of time…

Whether it’s endlessly listening to The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel as a teen, or mulling over Lobengula and the First Chimurenga in school history lessons, Zimbabwe’s provided a solid education and exposure to an eclectic mix of culture. Not to mention being moulded by many family holidays – both locally and abroad. Mana Pools has always been a favourite, and Chimanimani (which was the name of one of the St. John’s College School Houses) in my twenties, proved crucial to my personal development. Lesotho is the only country in Southern Africa I haven’t explored. Hitchhiking Windhoek to Swakopmund to Harare was an epic! And I know the back end of both Parirenyatwa (actually shook hands with then Minister of Health David Parirenyatwa at the Harare International Conference Centre) and Harare Hospitals as well as Valkenberg and Groot Schuur Hospitals in the Cape. In short society called me a nut, (which isn’t far wrong.) I even spent a year on gardening detail at Kirstenbosch Gardens. I’ve driven an old Madza pickup from Cape Town all the way up the East Coast of South Africa to Ponta do Ouro on the Southern tip of Mozambique where we swam with dolphins. I’ve spent weeks on the streets of Cape Town. I’ve read Nelson Mandela’s (Odyssey) Long Walk to Freedom and (please) Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller. I’ve painted an oil painting with Daryl Nero, my mentor. I’ve debated gay rights (and mind-body medicine) with my partner in crime David Ross Patient. I’ve lost close friends (and valuable team members) to suicide. In my own quiet way I’ve championed cannabis and psychedelics. I’ve been turned away by security at the door to the US Embassy, I’ve given a full body massage to a Counsellor from the South African Embassy and my ex-girlfriend’s (common law wife’s?) childhood home on Phillips Ave. became the Spanish Embassy. I’ve marketed three tonnes of tomatoes a day to Greater Harare (for many a day.) Africa’s been an invaluable cultural, diplomatic, geopolitical and all round learning experience. Return to Canada? James Joyce’s Ulysses continues Ulysses S. Grant, Mr. President, sir! (care for a Whiskey? Recovered alcoholic.)… I’ve soloed technology and the Internet and built my own dotcom from scratch. I’ve had a thorough conversation on social media with three US Presidents. Wordsmith and master of run-on sentences – yours truly. I’m a hard nut to crack.

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“A Brief History of Time”

~ Book by Stephen Hawking
(read from cover to cover)
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“A short thousand years: The end of Rhodesia’s rebellion.”

~ Book by Paul Moorcraft
(on my reading list)
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“Many times I’ve been alone
And many times I’ve cried”

~ The Long and Winding Road
Song by The Beatles
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“Still crazy after all these years”

~ Still Crazy After All These Years
Song by Paul Simon