Today started by going into portshepstone to buy my mom a battery for the Blackberry that I was going to give you and which so far has been 'broken'. It was a wonderful day, kinda like that warm odd sun spot outside on a London day, only it was that spot over the whole world. It was superb and wonderful. The smell of dust in my fathers truck in combination with the heat seemed like a normal combination. Yesterday I successfully got my old iPhone unlocked for £30 or so pounds on. Website in the uk while browsing the net from SA. I've given it to my dad, and he's overjoyed as I expect one should be: iPod, GPS, apps, 3G and twitter not to mention a phone...but seriously that's note te point is it :-)
Later this evening we unveiled my moms new blackberry to her and rather unsurprisingly she picked it up rather easily, taking photos, reading and replying to emails and generally getting around it rather well. It will be nice to send her emails and know she can get them easily. It's been all a bit excessive I think, a whole bunch of gadgets that one might think that these old fogies of mine where perhaps retired secret agents or something covert.
While my was dissecting his iPhone, my mom and I took that opportunity to head down to the beach. I ran, she drove behind me. We walked along the beach and just talked and I enjoyed that, it was the first time that she wasn't fidgeting about at home, always doing something. We got caught up in an I expectant wave and got wet and I squelched up the road while running back.
I also went through my old stuff from my childhood that my parents kept, the tho has that they felt were important to be kept and looked at and sorted out. So I sorted through old memories, old school ties, watches, yearbooks, trophies etc and it struck me how, while I felt attraction to them, they didn't hold a place in this life of mine, they remind me of a life I had before, a hard, difficult challenging unidentified life that belonged to the small me, the me that was afraid of everything, who was undefined and inexperienced. That said, I still understand the significance of the memories but their physical presence doesn't represent me anymore, everything that is, was is within me and I'm not tied to these objects. I came across my old notebook, a monstrosity of writing, 3 pages of thoughts and feelings, when I think, was a beginning of the new me, the thinking me, the transitional man. I wrote poems, letters and thoughts across 3 books and bandaged them together. It's wonderful to know that they represent the early me, the me that I am today. I think I wont take it with me back to London: my mother has intimated without saying so much(but she wouldn't daren't read it without permission, of course), that she'd be privileged to type out the hand written pages and send them to me. I figure that that a good offer and what with her new laptop, she can practise getting used to typing on the laptop keyboard which is a 13" IBM Lenovo think pad. So it looks like after all, she will read it. I'm ok with it because much like the old things in my life, while they may represent a time and phase in my life, I'm more proud of the new life that I lead now and think that web though everything contributes to who one is, who one is not because of the objects in his hand but he objects in his mind. I may change my mind, seeing that it might be shame to throw stuff away but sentimentality hasn't been one of my most practical or powerful qualities. I guess I'm risk averse, I don't want my objects to have power over me.
It was nice to see my parents and me all together on the room sharing the sofa, laughing, sharing stories and plonking around excitingly with their new toys, of which hey are so appreciative and glad. But they are merely pieces of plastic, but they can do so much and its the excitement it brings that I love.
I've being doing real good running. I run about 4.5km every 2nd day so apart from the 0.5 to 1km decline from my usual distance, it's still pretty good. It's nice running to the beach plus the incline and decline is severe and so that makes the run rather on par with my usual runs I think. I mean the last stat I saw, showed my decent being 90-100m which shows the hills I've had to deal with.
My parents eat well, everyday we get a super salad meal and my dad goes away and conjures up a special concoction of salad dressing which is normally very good. The other day I let slip that I like jelly, and well, I got jelly - two layers of different colours. I thought the was nice. I'm not really doing anything here just being, listening and enjoying the time with my folks. I make tea and coffee sometimes, today I helped my mom wash up the clothes and Han up the clothes on the washing line. My parents are very well liked here with everyone stopping by to talk to them and yesterday the electricity went out in the afternoon and like a street party all the residence in the park collected in front of our house and chatted with them. Wonderful to see.
I'm not a very huggy kinda person but my mom I so I've made time to hug her. She likes that. The more I spend time in South Africa, the more I realise how lucky I am to be well settled in England and how well my folks are settled in the park. It's a beautiful place really.
I have showers in the communal ablution block everyday and come down draped in my towel and flip flops and sometimes I run into my dad from time to time(He nearly scared the living daylights out of me recently, at night while I was closing up...). I've had great opportunity to pester my old cat, Ching, who has crept into my parent hearts and he is instrumental into their well being which is good but sometimes unsettling. I give him a good 'rough and tumble' but he is getting old now and it's sad to see everything getting old. But it's nice to see it, experience it and love it. I think tho I what his trip is all about for both me an my parents - an opportunity to feel this experience of each other. My dad gave me some words of Wisdom the other night while we were both in bed, wonderful father-son words of wisdom and I reminded him how successful his life has been, and how I wish my life is half has good as how his steered his, mine and ours. My father is certainly my role model, my strategy and rulebook in life, mother my sanity and thoughts. I had to tell them this and I have, it's worth it, purposeful and it's a beginning of my debt to them and appreciation of them. Under a summer night, all three of us sit on the veranda, all in sequence - back in sequence, 1,2 and with the return of the son, 3. As if a dark black canvas sheet was thrown over the world and pin pricks where poked into it, the starts where watching us as we were all reunited again. The family unit, side by side having conversations, sharing and just being. So so priceless and good for the soul.
My mom laughs so much these days and my dad is more content than ever before and I am happy. Things will be ok.
Later this evening we unveiled my moms new blackberry to her and rather unsurprisingly she picked it up rather easily, taking photos, reading and replying to emails and generally getting around it rather well. It will be nice to send her emails and know she can get them easily. It's been all a bit excessive I think, a whole bunch of gadgets that one might think that these old fogies of mine where perhaps retired secret agents or something covert.
While my was dissecting his iPhone, my mom and I took that opportunity to head down to the beach. I ran, she drove behind me. We walked along the beach and just talked and I enjoyed that, it was the first time that she wasn't fidgeting about at home, always doing something. We got caught up in an I expectant wave and got wet and I squelched up the road while running back.
I also went through my old stuff from my childhood that my parents kept, the tho has that they felt were important to be kept and looked at and sorted out. So I sorted through old memories, old school ties, watches, yearbooks, trophies etc and it struck me how, while I felt attraction to them, they didn't hold a place in this life of mine, they remind me of a life I had before, a hard, difficult challenging unidentified life that belonged to the small me, the me that was afraid of everything, who was undefined and inexperienced. That said, I still understand the significance of the memories but their physical presence doesn't represent me anymore, everything that is, was is within me and I'm not tied to these objects. I came across my old notebook, a monstrosity of writing, 3 pages of thoughts and feelings, when I think, was a beginning of the new me, the thinking me, the transitional man. I wrote poems, letters and thoughts across 3 books and bandaged them together. It's wonderful to know that they represent the early me, the me that I am today. I think I wont take it with me back to London: my mother has intimated without saying so much(but she wouldn't daren't read it without permission, of course), that she'd be privileged to type out the hand written pages and send them to me. I figure that that a good offer and what with her new laptop, she can practise getting used to typing on the laptop keyboard which is a 13" IBM Lenovo think pad. So it looks like after all, she will read it. I'm ok with it because much like the old things in my life, while they may represent a time and phase in my life, I'm more proud of the new life that I lead now and think that web though everything contributes to who one is, who one is not because of the objects in his hand but he objects in his mind. I may change my mind, seeing that it might be shame to throw stuff away but sentimentality hasn't been one of my most practical or powerful qualities. I guess I'm risk averse, I don't want my objects to have power over me.
It was nice to see my parents and me all together on the room sharing the sofa, laughing, sharing stories and plonking around excitingly with their new toys, of which hey are so appreciative and glad. But they are merely pieces of plastic, but they can do so much and its the excitement it brings that I love.
I've being doing real good running. I run about 4.5km every 2nd day so apart from the 0.5 to 1km decline from my usual distance, it's still pretty good. It's nice running to the beach plus the incline and decline is severe and so that makes the run rather on par with my usual runs I think. I mean the last stat I saw, showed my decent being 90-100m which shows the hills I've had to deal with.
My parents eat well, everyday we get a super salad meal and my dad goes away and conjures up a special concoction of salad dressing which is normally very good. The other day I let slip that I like jelly, and well, I got jelly - two layers of different colours. I thought the was nice. I'm not really doing anything here just being, listening and enjoying the time with my folks. I make tea and coffee sometimes, today I helped my mom wash up the clothes and Han up the clothes on the washing line. My parents are very well liked here with everyone stopping by to talk to them and yesterday the electricity went out in the afternoon and like a street party all the residence in the park collected in front of our house and chatted with them. Wonderful to see.
I'm not a very huggy kinda person but my mom I so I've made time to hug her. She likes that. The more I spend time in South Africa, the more I realise how lucky I am to be well settled in England and how well my folks are settled in the park. It's a beautiful place really.
I have showers in the communal ablution block everyday and come down draped in my towel and flip flops and sometimes I run into my dad from time to time(He nearly scared the living daylights out of me recently, at night while I was closing up...). I've had great opportunity to pester my old cat, Ching, who has crept into my parent hearts and he is instrumental into their well being which is good but sometimes unsettling. I give him a good 'rough and tumble' but he is getting old now and it's sad to see everything getting old. But it's nice to see it, experience it and love it. I think tho I what his trip is all about for both me an my parents - an opportunity to feel this experience of each other. My dad gave me some words of Wisdom the other night while we were both in bed, wonderful father-son words of wisdom and I reminded him how successful his life has been, and how I wish my life is half has good as how his steered his, mine and ours. My father is certainly my role model, my strategy and rulebook in life, mother my sanity and thoughts. I had to tell them this and I have, it's worth it, purposeful and it's a beginning of my debt to them and appreciation of them. Under a summer night, all three of us sit on the veranda, all in sequence - back in sequence, 1,2 and with the return of the son, 3. As if a dark black canvas sheet was thrown over the world and pin pricks where poked into it, the starts where watching us as we were all reunited again. The family unit, side by side having conversations, sharing and just being. So so priceless and good for the soul.
My mom laughs so much these days and my dad is more content than ever before and I am happy. Things will be ok.