Since A Finchley change and Darkwing duck, watch-straps and a mouse I've been on holiday and unfortunately, I arrived in the campsite having started to show more advanced signs of a cold; my nose was running and blocked and my throat was sore. This is no doubt a result of not sleeping very well on the flight and the general circulating cabin air within the plane. It probably didn’t help that there was a lady in front of my seat coughing and a baby to my side coughing.
As an interlude to the days' events, the prior day, Day1 I had a lovely discussion with my parents about all matter of things and I remembered instantly how I enjoyed conversing with them. Inevitably this led to long, deep conversations with my mom about the nature of human behaviour and our interpretations of the past growing up and the impact it has had on us as developing, exploring adventurers trying to understand the essences of ourselves. These conversations I find the most rewarding because the utmost respect and fascination leads to incredible insights from these conversations. Unfortunately, in our enthusiasm and fascination in each other’s interpretations of things, we stayed up far too late and this probably didn’t help my ailing body – but it was worth it.
I didn’t sleep particularly very well mostly because of the heat and my congestion. I easily woke up to a fidgeting sound above my head and discovered that it was my dad fixing a fastener on my tent window. I felt somewhat rested though less improved however the novelty of my new surroundings and circumstance allowed me to pursue the day with intent, albeit without much vigour.
We had Terry, an ex-electrician from the UK and fellow camper come over and have a cup of tea along with his delivery of the newspaper – which my parents read through while I was otherwise invested in my assignment during the day. I decided to go and have a shower and made my way down to the ablution blocks to have a very warm shower which I enjoyed and probably lingered a bit longer than was necessary. My mother, as is always the case, had thought of everything and insightfully bought me a toiletries bag full of new products, a pair of “flip-flops” which she’s ‘trekked’ around 6km in town to find – a determination I do not doubt. Furthermore, she takes great effort to facilitate every possible situation that the world might produce in the 2-3 weeks that I would be staying with them. It’s an endearing feeling to know how loving she is and this has always been a constant consideration in everything she does. This is probably one of the reasons why she means so much to me and so I appreciate the kindness and gestures.
My mom and I decided to go for a walk. It was a walking guide of sorts, her showing me various aspects of the surroundings and talking to people that we came across. We walked around a small body of water and saw fishes hiding from the morning sun underneath the mat of shrubbery that lay beneath the surface of the water. Apparently, that variety of water plan is invasive and there is often attempts to remove it. During the walk, I listened to the various descriptions of various scenarios that she described as we walked. One being of an experience she had while walking through an area where the “horses kissed me”. This was a friendly encounter with the park horses – of which my mother doesn’t always feel safe around however at this moment, she felt that being kissed (having the horse sniff-nibble her arm) provided an antidote to her uneasiness.
We walked quite a long way around and up the park and I started to realise how large in fact it was and how all-inclusive it was: there was adventuring climbing, mountain biking, horse riding, swimming and being close to the Drakensberg boys’ school was quite alive at times. I could definitely understand a need to actively run a resort like this as a full-time business.
Not feeling that well still I continued through towards the up part of the park having winded our way to the fancier, purpose-built accommodation. We sat in the shade for a while and continued our discussion about how living a life ‘considered’ and appropriately within your means is really important to one’s psyche. We walked back and I was exhausted but quite amused by my mother’s walking prowess – me being the active person that usually I was.
We have taken to sitting outside my parent’s tent, on reclining camping chairs which serve as our platform of collaboration, deliberation and discussions. It’s a lovely way to ‘join’ my parent’s lifestyle and be apart of it while fully embracing it. My nose started to ‘run’ in full-force and I spent most of the afternoon blowing it and thoughtfully (as ever) my mother brought me a make-shift tissue paper dispenser that made it easy to reach for a tissue in a moment of nose runniness.
A family had parked and erected their tent in front of ours and after careful a while the wife came to talk to us and my mother as sociable as ever made her feel quite welcome. My dad had already talked to the husband while we were on the walk and had established that he was a farmer from the area who were friends of the park owners. Their kids were throwing Frisbees and frolicking in the swimming pool and my mom reminded me that its this interaction that makes growing older a much more satisfying and liberating experience.
One of the things I noticed on the way back from our walk and being shown the restaurant and shared facilities (for example where my mom’s watches the cricket from time to time) is how outgoing South African’s can be and very welcoming. I think at times this outgoingness sometimes makes me a little uncomfortable as I often feel the need become like them and which goes against my very reserved, collected nature. An interesting observation was how reserved I am around people generally and I think I’ve become more introverted as the years have progressed – one of the many aspects of behaviour I discussed with my mother the previous night.
As the day progressed an ever increasing need to finish some parts of my assignment became unbearable and I took some time out of the day to listen to a podcast about agile and requirements gathering that I needed to analyse in the context of my current assignment. I took out an hour to listen and take notes, while my parents looked on and went about their business- which most often is very well coordinated like a good team. I had also taken time to read a research paper about software architecture and the cost of maintenance on highly coupled ones as this again was in preparation for my assignment, albeit another question unrelated to the analysis of the podcast.
As the evening progressed the lights went out and the scheduled ‘load shedding’ came into effect which meant for about 2-2.5 hours there would be no electricity to account for the mismanagement and criminal activity of the recently dethroned government. I took the opportunity to learn about these activities and the criminal charges now being investigated which was insightful however as I listened, I started to feel quite tired and less able to be sociable. I decided it needed to go and sleep and I abruptly went to bed, bidding everyone a hasty farewell.
I woke up perhaps an hour or two later, by which time the electricity had been switched back on. My parents had retreated to their tent and I, having still this need to make some progress on my assignment, decided to sit up and get some of it done. Thankfully I finished the ‘podcast’-question I had prepared for earlier that afternoon.
Prior to heading off to bed, we witnessed the Drakensberg Boys choir boys come down for swimming at the local swimming pool. There was much merriment and excitement at and around the pool. My mom suggested that we go and see them perform one night and I was less than encouraged to do so as I’m not that partial to singing however my mother is, being an ex-opera singer. She left the option open and didn’t press me to go. I’ve realised however in the meantime that this would probably be a new and useful experience, particularly as something we could all do together. So, tomorrow morning, I’ll suggest my aversion to it perhaps was unwarranted because I was not feeling that well.
In hindsight it would be special to my mother so for that reason alone I’ll go, and making memories is important and one of the primary reasons I holiday with them.