2010: World Cup 2010 comes to the Old Mountain

Its deep midwinter in Cape Town, and of course, being a winter rainfall area, it is a cold and wet and windy place. Well, for the most part, it is.

But to label it so would be to miss the point (of living in the Cape).
The weather here is not predictable.
Seriously, it is a weather forecasters nightmare.
Sometimes it can be just plain frustratingly otherwise.
Even, it sometimes seems, deliberately so!

June 21 2010.
The weather forecaster is confident.
Cold at first, clearing towards mid-day to yield one of those glorious mid winter days that only the Cape can deliver between bouts of grey mist and cloud-smoke.
Perfect for the 90000 fans waiting to pack into the Greenpoint Stadium for the Portugal-DRK football match - that would be soccer to you US Philistines! ;)
Exactly half an hour before the match starts, yes: You guessed it.
The cloud cover creeps over, the mountain disappears behind impenetrable fluffy clouds, and within a few minutes the rain starts to mist and swirl.
By then end of the first half it is steadily streaming down.

Thankfully, the Stadium does its job and keeps the crowd dry (though moist) and thankfully the steady downpour seems to make no difference on the billiard smooth green pitch, which magics the water away.
15 minutes before the end the rain has already started to retreat, so that by the time the final whistle blows the forecaster's predictions have become true, revealing a bright blue sky and a fresh and clear Monday evening.

And as we stream out of the now rapidly emptying and drying Stadium, gleaming in the late afternoon sunshine, we are greeted by one of Natures great wonders:

Table Mountain, once hidden in the mists that swirl, has burst into the open like the Titanic under a full head of steam .... and you know, once again, why this is the fairest cape in all the world.

Posted for Barbs, sitting in the unchanging blandness of LA, who knows the old mountain as well as any, and better than most :)