aCHOIRing coolness

Leya of the Lens-Artists photo challenge asks “how you would capture cooling in a photograph? Is it an image showing a much-needed, cooling swim? Or is it maybe a giant ice-cream on the beach, or a dog in a bucket of water in your back yard?”

⇓My daughter recently flew the coup for a week and took this photo at Pretoria Zoo. The flamingos are ready to cool down in the water in front of them should the need arise. Elrike tried her best to get me to buy her an iPhone before she left as the phone she has does not take proper photos (translation: it was not cool enough). I valiantly resisted her attempts, brave soldier that I am. I dare say the uncool phone produces pretty cool images.

However the need for cooling is unlikely to arise, as it is winter in the Southern hemisphere. Like a lot of other Lens-Artists, I do not just plonk a few photos onto the web, but quality, content and the theme is taken into consideration. This time round though I am using poetic licence to stretch the theme of cooling by asking what makes you cool.  For a teenager it is more important to be cool than it is for their parents – thank goodness, being cool is hard work especially the cool I am referring too. This story is about a teenager (lots of them actually) but with specific focus on my daughter, Elrike.

On Friday evening I received a message from her stating the following:

We have won with 97%

Her message triggered an uncool reaction (if I was a cowboy), I became emotional (okay I cried) and it made me long to be with her:

As it was the first time the choir took part in an international competition they had to qualify. The song Ritmo is part of their repertoire. When they sang it for qualification, the Spanish judge stood up and applauded. That should probably have been an indication of things to come. They had to keep their cool and it can be deducted from her message that it was quite a surprise, a joyous one, as it was followed with messages filled with all the  celebratory emoticons imaginable. My child has a passion for all things art and this would be an absolute inspiration for her. In that moment I was able to step into her moccasins (she does look a little like Pocahontas).

An extract from Ritmo

Cantaremos con gozo.
     We will sing with joy.
Con amor y esperanza.
     With love and hope.
Cantaremos de paz.
     We will sing of peace.
Cantaremos de amor.
     We will sing of love.
Cantaremos con alegria y con gozo.
     We will sing with happiness and with joy.

⇑Photo provided – in front of the Union buildings in Pretoria (Tswane). South Africa. Apart from the more substantial advantages choir members have become cool. Thus Northern hemisphere to be cool, start a choir!

⇓For somebody who isn’t a frequent flyer being photographed on Cape Town airport is cool doubly and cool if you are photographed with internationally acclaimed comedian and South African celebrity Marc Lottering. Call me selfish but I did not remark to Marc: “one day when I am big I am going to have hair like yours”. He will will probably use it in one of his shows and become rich(er) using my joke!

At the Choir village in Pretoria where entertainment was offered for choir members

Elrike was very impressed with the larger than life statue of Nelson Mandela. I think it is quite cool having produced such a leader in South Africa. Tomorrow (18 July) Mandela would have been 100 years old. There is a lot of practical celebrations aimed at community upliftment. Mandela did not commission this massive statue, it was not what he was about. For me one of the most remarkable things about him was that he was a one-term African leader. He did  not need to cling to power – his strength was not in power, his stature not in the size of monuments (or the fierceness of his twitter messages, for that matter).

Cool parents await their cool children, in the presence of a cool father, who made a cool poster

And the triumphant smiling choir arrives with Bellville High school flags being waved. Elrike is in the middle of the photo

⇑Proud parents whose sons’ are the epitome of coolness. They reminded me of Andre Joubert, a Springbok rugby player of yesteryear who used to score excellent tries (but it did not convert his face into a smile, da man was just too cool). But these 2 can smile – they were probably scared of me 🙂

⇓Teacher Zonika Wasserman savouring the moment. While not the conductor she is responsible for the logistics, quite a job for a 100 member choir. Her husband (and member of the High School Bellville symphonic wind orchestra) is next to her. The school  flags waving rapidly adds a transparent layer.

Let’s change our Ritmo and let our life rhythms sing of hope, peace, love and joy. Such a cool song will a-choir greatness.

“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12

Please join  the Lens-Artists journey, this week hosted by Leya.