Harry Clifford McCleland [1911 to 1982]: A Life Recalled

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal, Personal 3 Comments

Known by all and sundry as Clifford or Cliffie by those closer to him, he was never to be called Harry apart from on his birth certificate. Having never been close to him, the song “The Living Years” by Mike and the Mechanics has resonance with me. An intensely quiet, introverted but humble person, he was not somebody that would readily admit other people into his life. This was the person who was my father.

Amongst the many abiding memories of my father was that I never ever engaged in a discussion with him. Blaine on the other hand would rise early and share coffee with him in the kitchen. Naturally Cheryl was the apple of his eye until there was a falling out when she reached puberty. At that point both our relationships with him were platonic with no love or affection displayed.

Main picture: During WW2 in Egypt
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My Rocket Scientist Brother: A Youth of Normality

By Dean McCleland in Family Histories, McClelands, Other Personal, Personal 0 Comment

This blog just comprises vignettes written by my brother mainly to prove that despite his intelligence, he had a normal upbringing. What is singularly important is that he experienced the same anxieties, boredom and surprises as the rest of us. Only now after 50 years have I finally heard about Blaine’s entanglement with the law. What an admission. I never knew a thing. This is a random collection of Blaine’s musings of a life in a different age, an age of innocence and discovery. This is Blaine’s story.

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The Thrill of Shopping with One’s Wife

By Dean McCleland in Animals, Other Personal 0 Comment

When I first received these photographs, they struck an immediate chord with me. If my case it was not the wife, who you will not believe, hates shopping just as much as I do. It was my daughter. I also detest it but when we drew straws about who would perform which household chore, I drew the short straw on this one.

Maybe females attend Shopping School surreptitiously but how is it possible that all my shopping training with her over the years as she was growing up counted for nothing when she reached puberty. All of a sudden here was this little madam explaining to me how one ought to be shopping. The week-end excursion to the local Pick ‘n Pay at Blackheath became worse than plucking one’s eyebrows and just as painful. But she never relented.

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My Past is Another Country

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Other Personal 3 Comments

Notwithstanding the fact that I still reside in sunny South Africa, however the country of my birth has changed irrevocably since then. It has been refashioned to such an extent that it is no longer the same country that I remember as a callow youth. This alteration is more than a racial voting issue as the very fabric of society has been rendered asunder. This blog addresses these modifications and assesses whether they were for better or worse as the marriage in 1994 to the New South Africa was consummated.

Main picture: With my cousin Marilyn & her two boys circa 1976

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Can a Tarot Card Reader Answer a Troubling Question?

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal, Personal 1 Comment

In the terminal stages of breast cancer, my mother-in-law was placed in a hospice. Barely two days later, she was dead. Was there any nefarious reason for her precipitous demise?

Before I commence the blog, may I make an admission? Neither am I religious nor am I spiritualist. In fact, those that know me will attest to the fact that my views are diametrically opposed to such beliefs being both an atheist and profoundly sceptical of spiritual forces.

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The Case of the Missing Back Door – Part 2 of 3: Specialist Assistance is Acquired

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal 2 Comments

The first option was rejected out of hand. Peremptorily. As I do not have a DIY bone in my body or the desire, or the tools, or the wherewithal, it would not be me who would fix it. But Janine wanted it fixed immediately that night. She contended that this was security purposes as if I could buy a door from Builders Warehouse at 19:30 on a week night & then install it without any tools. I knew that she had always thought that I was good, but I was not that good. Certainly not in that department.

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The Case of the Missing Back Door – Part 1 of 3: A terrified dog makes a grand entrance

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal 2 Comments

Tammy was a loveable placid Alsatian with smooth pitch black fur ever eager to please one. Her affectionate nature required one to pat her unlike her “sibling” who was more standoffish & aloof.

Her nemesis was an older Alsatian but instead of being of the German variety, Kohla was a Belgian Shepherd. Similar to their German brethren but with curly black fur, they displayed most of the characteristics of their GSD neighbours.

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Living the Rhythms of a Bush Life Part 5: Through Moremi & Chobe to Home

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal 0 Comment

Through Moremi to Chobe

 

The bush odyssey was slowly drawing to a close, but before it did so, there was one more game reserve to visit: Chobe. This area nestled between Zimbabwe, Zambia & Namibia & was the focal point of the supply routes of the terrorist organisations fighting the Rhodesian government during the so-called bush war.

From a conservation point of view, what it is renowned for are its elephants; tens of thousands of them.

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Living the Rhythms of a Bush Life Part 4: Into the Heart of the Okavango

By Dean McCleland in Other Personal 0 Comment

 

Into the Heart of the Okavango

Rob had a clearly defined objective for the next five days: Drive aimlessly around the Okavango & view the game.

The itinerary would follow the diurnal rhythms of the bush: wake up before day break & view some lion kills, have breakfast, sleep over the hottest part of the day, have supper as the sun is going down & then do some more game-viewing & hopefully spot a lion kill.

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