My house, like most in Cape Town, is protected on the outside by a large electric metal gate, operated by a remote control. When I first moved in, I was given a remote to open the gate that hangs on my keyring and basically looks like a garage door opener. Since I never got to experience an electric garage door growing up (we have a carport and an open garage), opening and closing the gate via a remote was particularly novel for me.
When I run, I normally remove the remote from my house keys and loop the remote control onto my shoelaces. Yesterday I decided to try out the Velcro pocket on my New Balance running shorts and place the key there instead. This turned out to be a poor idea (or just poor construction on the part of New Balance), because halfway through my run I realized I had lost my key somewhere on the streets of Observatory or Rondebosch or Mowbray. I traced my steps, but to no avail. My remote control has disappeared into the hands of some lucky (but hopefully unaware, and uninterested in robbery) Capetonian. Unfortunately I have to wait until Monday when my landlord returns from vacation to get a replacement. For now I have mastered the art of reaching my hand through the burglar bars on the front door, opening the gate from the inside all the way, pressing the close button and dashing out before it closes all the way.
It is still strange for me to deal with such a high level of home security, but at the same time, it will also be strange for me to return to the US, where everyone has open front yards and front doors that lead to the street, all unprotected by electric gates, barbed wire and burglar bars.
In other news, Nick and I attempted to recreate my favorite Grit golden bowl for dinner last night. It was a pretty successful albeit unattractive dinner. Nutritional yeast is weird and tofu is hard to cook. But the taste was the same!
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