An Autumn Canvas: Pretoria's Gentle Day of Sunshine and Shifting Skies
The city of Pretoria, the administrative heart of South Africa, a place of wide avenues, historical architecture, and the lingering scent of jacaranda blossoms even beyond their vibrant peak, awoke this Wednesday, the 14th of May, to the hushed stillness of autumn. As the first hints of dawn painted the eastern sky in soft, muted colours, a cool embrace settled over the city. The low temperature of the night had descended into a range of 8 to 12 degrees Celsius (approximately 46 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit). For those stirring in the quiet pre-dawn hours – the early commuters, the street vendors setting up their stalls with practiced ease, or the security guards keeping watch – the air was crisp and carried the distinct chill of the approaching winter. It was a morning that called for a warm jacket, a scarf perhaps, the kind of air that makes a steaming cup of rooibos tea a particularly comforting companion. In some of the northern reaches of the city, a gentle veil of morning fog ma...