Remembering My Father

Remembering My Father

Riding uphill these road i can clearly see The Great Rift valley bellow.In the distant horizon i can see Mt. Longonot and the cascading wheat farms as the valleys and alleys created by the flowing lava that formed the mountain, rise to the dark clouds that hang like a heavy grey  blanket  massaging the peak ready to leak and rain. Below i can see silver mabati donning the nearby valley like a tin flap. These are homesteads built over the years around Maaīmahiū town.

These town is named after the hot springs and geysers that are around these area in Unfortunately the truck drivers that stop over here created different kind of heat!

I remember many weekends driving in these old winding road with my father in his old VW beetle . He would focus on the road ahead as he sang along to his favourite music stars like Harry Belafonte,Smoky Robinson, The Every brothers, Percy Sledge,Diana Ross, Jimmy cliff, The Beatles among others (I still keep his precious Albums). One eye off the road and it would be disaster,maybe a rollercoaster down the valley.

I and my brother enjoyed these rides. Sometimes my dad would ride us on a pickup truck and we would hop on the back. That feeling of fresh air brushing your nosestrils like a warm silky ostrich feather is unexplainable- mysterious.

Mostly we were heading to Naivasha to check on his father ,my grandpa. Father and Sons loved each other. A few weeks wouldn't go without us visiting. There we could meet our Dads and it was all food,drink,chit chat,music and fun. It was Bliss. For us boys we loved the socializing,the Nyamachoma ,the sodas and the adventure.

Today on my way from home I'm using these new road . A road that didn't exist back in the 70's, how things have changed. I'm now a father. My Dad is long gone so is his Father. Naivasha still remains now called Vasha. Belle -Inn where my father once worked is still there,Maīmahīu still there,Mt Longonot still there and life still proceeds. Marching to the unknown future. All i have are memories of my Father.

I often ask myself, what will my children write about me long after im gone? I know i can only create my future now.  The way it is today it will be written.

All that will remain are memories, Mountains,valleys ,places and maybe mementos.

It reminds me of the Song by my friend Samba Mapangala.- Dunia Tunapita.

I miss you Dad .You lived a good one and some with me.