This might be me - because these days I am not even sure myself

Hello Steemians

I'm no good at introductions and besides I know for a fact that not even a third of you will be able to pronounce my name. So for the purposes of being a "Steemian" I will go by the name of Elysium. I like it. The Cambridge Dictionary says that it means "a state of great happiness". Obviously the origin of the word has far reaching and way more philosophical explanations that belong only to Greek Mythology.

I am not in a particularly happy space at the moment, though. So the purpose of my blog will mostly be about how I am seeking some form of happiness in the small things in life. I live in Cape Town and as some of you may know we are experiencing an intensely horrifically debilitating drought. My English vocabulary is just too limited to be able to describe to you just how bad the situation is. And please do not quote me on facts, rather go read some EWN or CNN news reports. What I do know is that I am only entitled to 50 litres of water per day. This comes down to a few basics:

To be honest I am really struggling to keep within my daily quota and I think all Capetonians are. It’s not that simple, the majority of us have been living first world lives ever since we can remember and now all of a sudden in the year 2018 we have to go back to collecting water and washing from a small basin and not flush our toilets. It’s horrendous to say the least.

BUT I will not bore you with talk of the drought. We talk about it ALL the time. And I mean ALL the time. Almost every conversation either starts with a discussion or winds down to talk about the water levels in the dams, the probability of rain and who is doing what to save water or reduce their usage.

You can imagine in a situation as dire as this you would need some kind of positive distraction. I find my happy distractions in being outdoors, hiking and exploring our big, beautiful, green and blue planet. My birthday is in February and there is a small flower called the disa flower that only blooms this time of year. It has been one of bucket list items ever since I heard about it the first time, which must have been about 6 years ago. The more well-known disa flower is larger and red in colour, then it has a much smaller blue sibling. Both bloom around this time of year, but are quite rare to find. This weekend I set out to hike up Table Mountain in search of these beauties. The main route we followed was up Skeleton Gorge, along the Aqueduct on Table Mountain, down Disa Ravine and back down Nursery Ravine. The hike itself is extremely strenuous, but SO rewarding once one reaches the top of Table Mountain. The vegetation and flowers and rock formations are truly exquisitely beautiful. You cannot help but feel as if you have reached the top of the world. The mountains in the distance are so clear and bright blue as if you could touch them.

The disa flowers only grow along a stream and that is exactly where we found them. You can imagine our childlike excitement when we finally spotted them. My friend probably spent close to an hour photographing them, eventually her shoes were soaking wet, as she stepped in the stream to get close-up pictures. I just sat happily on a small rock with my bare feet in the water looking at these gorgeous little flowers. It was a moment of bliss, a moment of teleportation out of my life into a life of carefree happiness.

Chat to you soon, the elysium seeker.