Smiling & Waving (with a sad post note)

When my camera returns form the States after being fixed, I’m going to be like everyone else and do short blogs with lots of pictures! I feel very old-school in that I compose these long, detailed missives, when everybody else writes in Tweet-speak and sticks to the Face Book formula. I’ve forgotten yet another Face Book password, so I officially resign on that front. I' also starting to really get back into cooking & creating, so I may chuck some of that in as well. I think our lives in the islands are starting to become fairly predictable.

During some particularly trying times last year – my favourite expression, taken from ‘Madgascar’ I think, was “just smile & wave boys, smile & wave”. This was done through gritted teeth whilst not resorting to physical violence. Can’t say I’m missing any of that, but for some reason this morning – it came to mind again.

This time for very different reasons, thank goodness and quite sweet, at that. As I sat in the 5 minute ‘tail-back’ into Road Town with the 'Swedish House Mafia' blaring happily on the CD (Shakira – the Spanish version, no less – gets firmly replaced once the boys have been dropped off at school) I realized everyone was tooting each other and sticking out their arms to wave good morning as cars joined the queue from various feeder roads – and there you were – a new ‘smile & wave boys’ , just like that.  It was a happy moment.

Lest I bore you with too many bucolic scenes, I had another ‘moment’ last night – as we sat ‘en famille’ after dinner – one child practicing the piano, Tyler reading the newspaper, another child watching CBeebies or something and another one doing their homework – it did feel a bit like a scene out of “Little House on the Prairie’ and my heart swelled, even though I, of course, was doing the washing up, albeit with a very large ‘island-style’ G & T (80% gin 20% tonic) on hand.

All this affirmation has been necessary as Monday was our 6 month anniversary of being here – and man I am really missing my friends, and had a bit of a wobble. It creeps up on ‘ya.

Anyhow I made a big Bobotie and kept myself busy, and tried not to miss everyone too much, and updated my lists and did all the things that you do when trying not to think too much – and the day passed, and the next day arrived and everything was OK.

On the weather forecast this morning, the radio said –“the weather is exactly the same as yesterday. It does have todays date on it, but yep, it’s exactly the same!” You’ve gotta love it.

Postscript: I wrote this blog on Thursday day and unfortunately on Thursday evening I had a car accident. I was on my own coming up the notorious Elevator Road.  I’m OK apart from 2 very black eyes, but the car is probably a write-off. Luckily fully insured. Although we are all a bit shaken up' , it all could have been a lot worse, and everyone has been very sweet and supportive. It's truly a case of what doesn’t kill you, makes you wiser.