In 1926, if only Baroness Karen von Blixen/Isak Dinesen, the famous Danish author of “Out of Africa” had a Blackberry, she would have been spared the endless yearning for Denys Finch Hatton, her English big game hunter while he was away on safari.
Well, I have to admit I had stolen a scene right out of the Baroness’ book this weekend. After chatting with my squash-mate at the pub, I discovered he was from Lusaka (Zambia) where I had fallen in love 25 years ago with One Lost Love. Within moments, we confirmed that he not only knew One Lost Love but also called him “Uncle”!
Gob-smacked, I grabbed my Blackberry and pinged One LL. It was morning there, a 6 hour time difference. We laughed at our good fortune and marvelled at how fate (and a little bit of Blackberry magic) had suddenly brought us back to a place and time over 25 years ago.
How could this possibly have happened? After a few drinks, the answer became clear. It had nothing to do with the power of love because ours was a lost love but it had to do with the power of our love for squash. Seriously, One LL had a squash court at home.
So as I walked home that evening, I thought of Baroness von Blixen who wrote:
“To be lonely is a state of mind, something completely other than physical solitude; when modern authors rant about the soul’s intolerable loneliness, it is only proof of their own intolerable emptiness.” – Out of Africa, 1937