Its good for the soul

Even if you don’t believe in the existence of the soul, there’s a fair bit of evidence to support the claim that living beside a river has benefits for the psyche, defined by one dictionary as “the human soul, mind or spirit”.

Some of my earliest and happiest memories are associated with flowing water, starting with a rubber duck in the bath and evolving over the years into a harmless obsession with rivers. When I was a child, the highlight of our family’s annual pilgrimage from Kimberley to Cape Town was a picnic stop beside the Hex River, where my brother and I would paddle in the cola-coloured water and I would dream of living in a little waterside shack and never having to go to school again. (In the picture above, Alan – right – is playing in a bathtub with his cousin Hercule du Preez, who succumbed to Covid-19 last year. – Eds.)

Although that dream didn’t materialise, I was on the right track. Studies have shown that people living near water enjoy significant health benefits, including a lower risk of obesity and a reduced likelihood of premature death. There are also reports of an improvement in mental health and wellbeing. Not exactly the sort of peer-reviewed material that would make it into scholarly journals, but it’s good enough for me. After many hours of searching online, I’ve found a spot beside a sleepy river that appears to have it all, including birds and fish begging to be caught.

In preparation for the coming zombie apocalypse, I’ll stock our riverside getaway with 10 cases of baked beans, the last six jars of Peck’s Anchovette in the known universe, and some air freshener. When my wife comes home, we need to talk.