Recently I have taken to looking at people when I walk around town, looking at their faces, trying to read the expressions on their faces, to see what these can tell me.
If you know what to look for you can tell a great deal about a town by looking at the faces of the towns folk.
My favourite place to do this is to walk down the avenues in Stellenbosch in the afternoons, because it is such a beautiful road loads of people choose this as their preferred route for exercise, walking their dog or an afternoon stroll. The other great advantage is that the avenue attracts people from all walks of life, different ages and social groups.
There are retired folk who just stroll, no pressure, they look relaxed and content, they even have time to greet you, the student lovers, who walk up and down with no real purpose, just want to be together, they seldom greet you because I don't think they see anybody else.
Then you get the exercisers, those who I envy, they just smile as they pass, then the school children bouncing balls, chasing each other for amusement, then the office types, on their way to or from work, hurried and on their phones.
A wide variety, all with one thing in common, they have chosen to walk down the avenue in Stellenbosch because it makes them feel good. I've looked at their faces, I've watched them they all look at the surroundings, they all stop to admire the beauty.