Of comets, five dollar notes and tea bags

Dear Family and Friends

Sitting in the twilight at the end of a hot and humid October day I looked out at the caramel glow descending across the early evening sky. There had been a light rain shower earlier and now hundreds of flying ants were rising out of the ground, their wings golden in the orange light of dusk. I sat quietly watching nightjars and bats swooping and swirling, having a feast on flying ants as the light faded. I was waiting for Venus to appear, that would be my guide to hopefully see the sight of a lifetime. Thanks to a Zimbabwean astronomer now living in the Diaspora, formerly the Chairman of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa (Harare Centre), I knew roughly where to look and I waited until the sky grew darker. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (also known as Comet 2023 A3) was discovered in China in January 2023, confirmed at Sutherland in South Africa in February 2023 and is now thought to never have been seen before. When I heard it was going to be visible from Zimbabwe for a couple of weeks in October 2024, I was determined not to miss it.

As always, in a country in crisis, there was much to think about as I sat waiting and watching and as usual my thoughts were about our economic absurdity. Out shopping earlier in the week I had handed over a five US dollar note, the exact price of the teabags I wanted to buy. The teller refused to accept my money saying it had a one-millimetre tear on the top right of the bank note. ‘We don’t accept torn notes,’ she said. I didn’t have another note to give her and so I left without buying the teabags. The story was the same in three other shops, no one would accept the bank note with a tiny tear. ‘Take it to the bank’ one teller told me, ‘they’ll change it for you.’ She was right, but listen to this nonsense: First you have to have an account at that bank. Second the bank charges a 10% fee to change a bank note. Third they don’t give you a cash exchange, the money is deposited into your bank account. To then withdraw what is now your US$4.50 out in cash you have to pay a counter withdrawal fee of 1.25%.? Now my five US dollars is only worth US$4.44 and the banks don’t have US coinage and so I must forfeit the 44 cents; ‘leave it in your account,’ the teller says, but then, of course, I don’t have enough for the tea bags anymore. If I pay in US dollars using my debit card, not only do I have to pay a mandatory 2% tax for an electronic transfer but some shops have started charging a 5% fee for a ‘non cash’ transaction.’ Is that legal? No. Are they getting away with it? Yes. ?This is the reality of an economy in crisis. Our ZiG currency, that devalued a month ago by 44% to a rate of 24.4 ZiGs to one US dollar is already floundering and it’s now 28.59 to one US dollar.

Frankly, it was easier trying to get my head round the science of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS and I looked up at our beautiful night sky. How fortunate we are in Zimbabwe not to have light pollution, helped of course by our 18 hour a day power cuts! Venus was bright and clear, Scorpius blazed above, and I had a perfect view. As advised, I used binoculars first, looked across to the right for the constellations of the Snake and Snake-bearer, then scanned very slowly, left to right looking for the comet. Oh, what joy, what delight, when I first saw Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on the 17th of October at 18:53pm. It was a full moon so viewing wasn’t easy, but I wasn’t disappointed. The head of the comet was distinct, a fuzzy white ball and a long dust tail going straight up through the constellations. Knowing that this comet was approximately seventy-five million kilometres away, was almost inconceivable and yet I could see it both with binoculars and my naked eye. I was completely hooked and night after night I was out there in the dark looking for the spectacular Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS. Over the next eleven days I managed to see the comet eight times when the sky wasn’t obscured by rain clouds. The comet is now very faint as its orbit takes it further and further away from the Earth and Sun and astronomers now think it will never be back again. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was a beautiful, wonderful distraction from the trauma of everyday life in Zimbabwe. I end this letter with a message of thanks to my friend Mike for always telling me to ‘Keep Looking Up.’ It always gives me hope.

There is no charge for this Letter From Zimbabwe but if you would like to donate please visit my website.

Until next time, thanks for reading this Letter From Zimbabwe now in its 24th year, and my books about life in Zimbabwe, a country in waiting. My new evocative photobook ‘Zimbabwe’s Timeless Beauty The 2024 Collection” and my Beautiful Zimbabwe 2025 Calendar are now available from the links below ?

Ndini shamwari yenyu (I am your friend)

Love Cathy 31st October 2024. Copyright ? Cathy Buckle? https://cathybuckle.co.zw/

All my books are available from my website https://cathybuckle.co.zw/? or? www.lulu.com/spotlight/cathybuckle2018 or?www.amazon.com/author/catherinebuckle? Please visit my website for further details, to link into my social media sites, to contact me or to see pictures that accompany these letters?https://cathybuckle.co.zw/

The picture of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS accompanying this letter is by C. Cook, extracted from Sky and Telescopes magazine website.