The world is a mask that hides the real world.
Thatâs what everybody suspects, though the world we see wonât let us dwell on it long.
The world has ways - more masks - of getting our attention.
The suspicion sneaks in now and again, between the cracks of everyday existenceâ¦the bird song dips, rises, dips, trails off into blue sky silence before the note that would reveal the shape of a melody that, somehow, would tie everything together, on the verge of unmasking the hidden armature that frames this sky, this tree, this bird, this quivering green leaf, jewels in a crown.â¦
As the song dies, the secret withdraws.
The tree is a mask.
The sky is a mask.
The quivering green leaf is a mask.
The song is a mask.
The singing bird is a mask.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
they want their Nature clean & tidy
Falconers upset golf estate residents
Two falconers practising their ancient sport on the Milnerton golf course outraged a nature-loving family living on the adjoining estate after they killed a Cape francolin in front of three children.
Barry Asquith of Sunset Links said his wife had just finished feeding the francolins that freely roamed the estate, when two Cape Falconry Club members had set their sparrowhawk on the birds.
"The francolins scattered in all directions, but one fell prey to the hawk."
As soon as it had been felled, one of the falconers had come over and wrung its neck, Asquith said.
"This in full view of my wife and grandchildren - aged two, four and seven - not exactly the behaviour of responsible people."
He asked who had given them permission to practise their "blood sport" on the golf course.
Neither he nor his family considered themselves "greenies", he added. "We are just lovers of what nature has to offer, and are sickened by... people who act in an 'uncivilised' and thoughtless manner with no apparent regard for others."
Asquith was sent a copy of permission by the golf club for the falconers to practise there.
CapeNature also responded, saying the falconry club was allowed to self-regulate the activities of its members.
Ornithologist Kevin Shaw told Asquith that CapeNature had approved the club's code of conduct.
"The hunting of 'tame francolin' is an ethical issue, and because some may oppose it and others may be in favour of it, it becomes difficult to resolve," he said.
The chairperson of the Cape Falconry Club, Adrian Lombard of Glencairn, sent a letter of apology to Asquith, saying that while the two members had been acting legally, the club "very much regretted" that their actions caused the Asquith family distress.
He said he had emphasised at a recent club meeting that members should avoid offending the public.
Novice falconers were obliged to undergo a two-year apprenticeship, "during which time hunting ethics are instilled", Lombard added.
Asquith said: "It doesn't seem like these two learnt anything during their 'apprenticeship' on ethics."
* This article was originally published on page 9 of The Cape Argus on July 14, 2005
