While I have not written for some time, much, as per usual, has transpired in our new lives. Summer, for one, has arrived! I think. I hope. Touch wood!
A full week with no rain and no padded jackets escorting me to work. Aahhh, what a life.
Brian came to visit last weekend. Part of his soccer teams year end tour, I think? He and two mates, one on route to Christchurch as part of a work relocation and one other along for the ride made up the party. A pretty good party by the sight of the boys on Sunday morning. Bleary eyed, yet ready to tackle the golden malt, again, before lunch.
It was good to have Brian around and I always marvel at his approach to life. He is a doer! He is funny and his humour always reminds me of Uncle Louis! A humour that is life itself, derived and inspired by people. To say that he has a capacity for partying would be to sell him short. The boy can thrash it till sunrise and start again with an early breakfast. Needless to say I was green-gilled by Sunday! And he only arrived with us on Saturday morning.
GREAT!
He spent time with us at Travis’ cricket, soaking up the first summer sun on Saturday, came back on Sunday, stayed over and flew back to Auckland on Monday evening! Thanks Brian!
We have been preparing our home for it’s six monthly landlord visit. A sizeable task given that we ignored our duties through the rain and cold months. We are almost there and I suspect we will pass with flying colours.
My resignation at EDS has left me feeling a little vulnerable, unsure. One no longer feels a part of the team. Like a peg without a hole? Things to do and places to go, but a little unstructured. I get the feeling my peers expect me to act in a certain way, to have a certain attitude. What? Why? All I want is to prepare the one major project I have for a seamless handover. Look after my baby!
I have been entertained recently with observations and musings from the Overburg. Of walks on the beach, misty mornings, friendly neighbours, a little wine and whiskey sipping, a life newly discovered. Of waiting with anticipation to catch up on the lives of Val and F! Recently the highveld smog departed, settled now in the foothills of fynbos country and a new four legged companion to boot! That lifelong dream realised! You go guys! And thanks……
(PS: Your music is in the post)
So what of our news? Well, suppose we have been busy doing life! Work, school, sport, horses, maintenance and well, the stuff that makes up what we are, a family.
Missing our folk is reality. News of family gatherings, birthdays, anniversaries and the like, remind us of the price we pay. Those sun drenched, red meat blackening, beer filled afternoons, chewing the fat, sharing love! We miss those. Seeing the nieces and nephews grow toward their fist steps, their first day of school, their first exam, their first job, their weddings, becoming parents! These things we miss! As pioneers though, I suppose we build our own “family” to satisfy these cravings.
I suggest we pay a little homage to our forebears, who did just this, without email and telephones. Respect!
Just peered out the window as we pass Plimmerton, The sea is calm, the sky cloudless, the wind but a murmur, like tea settling after a gentle stir. The sheep are out, not cowering in the hollows but freckling the hills. The folk about the carriage are in summer attire, the jackets lazing about the stowage racks, neglected, unwanted!
I sense a ramble coming on……….. something about how blue or green that Tasman, or how green or yellow spotted that hill, or how the rich folk are invasive, or how ………………..
I simply cannot wait to get off the train today and be with my family. A sundown at the beach, a chardonnay, a piece of cheese, a memory!