Sweet, fleeting normalcy
Greetings from Cape Town!
The kids are on Spring Break this week. India planned a fabulaborate (ie, fabulous and elaborate) short trip to Madagascar, which is #1 on her tourism wish list, and has been for a long time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the time, and I wasn’t comfortable spending the money, so we are planning to go some time next year.
Instead of being in Madagascar, which appears to be one of the world’s most abnormal places, we have had a few days together at home and up at the farm in Tulbagh. This is the first time we have been in Tulbagh in the Spring, and the first time that we have just gone up on our own for a few days mid-week. It was blissful.
India went for long runs on the dirt roads, (recovering from the Cape Town Marathon, which she ran on Sunday). We drove up to the mountaintop behind our house, to face west and watch the sun set over the fynbos. Later, we cuddled en famille under a down comforter in the upstairs living room, and watched movies.
Tallulah and I liked the puppy movie, “Santa Buddies”, a lot. At the end, she told me, “I am crying, but in a happy way.” I got a little tearful too, but only in the part where Tiny, the littlest dog, gets adopted on Christmas morning by the sickly boy. And also when the mean dogcatcher gets invited for a Christmas dinner, and stops being so mean. And maybe when Puppy Paws realizes that he has enough magic in his collar to have the other puppies pull Santa’s sleigh. And also, …
We explored the Tullbagh Valley a little, and met one of our neighbors. He is a Belgian wine farmer, who offsets his farming losses by renting the estate out for multi-thousand-guest rave and trance parties. Zola was interested in, but truly intimidated by, his blonde 12-year old daughter, who rode a Rip Stik all around the winery’s tasting room while we talked.
The rest of Spring Break week has been busy down in Cape Town, with work, and play dates, and surfing. India and Zola climbed Lion’s Head mountain this morning together. She feels as though he is already slipping away from her a little, into his mildly obsessive world of Eavy Warhammer figurines and European soccer trivia. India figures that this is the 50th time she has climbed Lion’s Head this year.
This afternoon, Tallulah and India were invited to a tea party by our neighbors, the adorable 4-year-old twin sisters. Later, the twins told me that there was “no tea, only pretend.” Zola and the twins’ older brother, Ben, sneaked over and had several of the (real) cupcakes that were on offer.
In short, it has been a week of happy normalcy. We are healthy, feeling (reasonably) settled, enjoying the outdoors, and enjoying being together. Soon the kids will go back to schoold for Term Four, and India and I will get crazy busy.
I have to store away the essence of these happy times, to draw on it when times are tough, or I am feeling sorry for myself. Julie Andrews would sing a song about it.