Captain Gemini Field Notes — A Morning Between Work and Loss.
2026-09-10
🚗 The Mobile Office Has Been Upgraded.
The mobile office has had a rather unexpected upgrade today.
The Ford Ranger is parked, and I am temporarily operating from my boss’s Honda, complete with bucket seats and plush foam.
One might say Captain Gemini has received a promotion.
🚕 From Driver to Chauffeur.
The Crown Mines run was finished early this morning.
By about 09:00, the work was done.
Then came an unexpected side mission: purchasing a replacement compressor for a shop refrigerator that had given up the ghost.
By 10:10, the Ranger was parked.
Now I am sitting at The Glen while my passengers handle their errands.
🏦 Today’s Itinerary.
The itinerary currently looks something like this:
Standard Bank.
Then PostNet.
Then Booysens Police Station.
After that, the car wash.
My passengers will walk across the road for a haircut while I get the Ranger washed — including an engine wash.
So today, apparently, I am not merely a driver.
I am the chauffeur, courier, waiting-room attendant, and mobile-office operator.
🧠 A Quiet Moment at The Glen.
It is now around 10:51.
The strange thing about these waiting periods is that they give the mind room to wander.
And mine has been wandering back to Cindy Peterson.
She died on 26 August.
She was only 45.
Born in 1981.
That fact still doesn’t seem real to me.
💔 Some Losses Do Not Make Sense.
My father’s birthday was on 22 August.
Then, only a few days later, Cindy was gone.
Life can change direction incredibly quickly.
One day somebody is here.
The next day, they are not.
One of my pastors once responded rather coldly to something like this with, “It is what it is.”
Perhaps.
But knowing that something is reality does not make it easier to accept.
🌹 Cindy Was Still So Young.
What hurts most is knowing how much Cindy still had to give.
She was engaging.
She cared about people.
She was a Christian example in my life, together with Grant, during the years when they were actively part of it.
There are not many Christian brothers and sisters about whom I can honestly say:
“Those people were real role models.”
Cindy and Grant were two of them.
And losing Cindy feels like losing somebody who still had chapters left to write.
✝️ Perhaps God Sees What We Cannot.
I don’t pretend to know why God allowed Cindy to leave this world when He did.
Perhaps there are things ahead that we cannot see.
Perhaps the difficult times coming upon the world will be far greater than we understand.
Perhaps God spared her from things she would otherwise have had to endure.
Or perhaps there is another reason entirely.
I simply don’t know.
What I do know is that God sees the whole picture when we can only see one small piece of it.
🛒 And Then Comes a Blessing.
In the middle of all these thoughts, there is also something encouraging.
My army friend Andrew has blessed us with groceries again.
He sent me a WhatsApp to make sure Julian would be around to receive them, or that he could send them through Checkers Sixty60.
That means there should be some decent food waiting for us tonight.
Sometimes God’s provision arrives through another person.
And sometimes that person is simply a good friend who remembers that you need a little help.
🤝 Andrew Is One of Those Blessings.
Andrew has become one of those people for whom I can genuinely say:
“Thank you, Lord.”
People like that are not common.
They remind you that Christian brotherhood is supposed to be more than words.
It is about showing up.
It is about remembering.
It is about helping when somebody needs help.
Grant and Cindy were like that in their own way.
Andrew is like that too.
🕰️ Here Today. Gone Tomorrow.
Sitting here waiting for the next trip, I keep coming back to the same uncomfortable truth.
We really are here today and gone tomorrow.
We spend so much time worrying about money, work, cars, errands, computers, shopping, deadlines and all the little battles of ordinary life.
And then something happens that reminds us just how temporary everything is.
Life is hard.
Sometimes very hard.
And today, I am feeling that reality rather deeply.
📝 Captain Gemini’s Field Note.
Perhaps the lesson from today’s strange mixture of errands, car washing, groceries, friendship and grief is simply this:
Don’t take people for granted.
Tell people you love them.
Be there when you can.
Help when you are able.
And when somebody blesses you, remember to be grateful.
Because none of us knows how many pages remain in our own story — or in somebody else’s.
❤️ Until the Next Field Report.
For now, Captain Gemini remains on chauffeur duty.
The Ranger still needs its wash.
The engine needs its wash.
The passengers need their errands completed.
And somewhere in all of this ordinary Johannesburg chaos, life continues.
Even while the heart is still trying to understand the losses it has not yet learned how to carry.
📰 Captain Gemini 💔
With ChatGPT.