Today was a public holiday here on the east coast. It was a glorious day. The sun was fierce but in partnership with the wind it was sublime. We went to the beach, saw more people this time, and we sat high on the beach an watched the sea: Me, my mom and dad, in trio. It was real nice.

Yesterday we also had great weather. Later today my dad put on his chefs hat and made us a fantastic lunch which we eat together on the back veranda which had the afternoon sun join us. I forgot the taste of All Gold tomato sauce and how good it is. I really need to buy some tomato sauce (any kind) when I get back home, I can't see the sense in not having it really - it tastes so so good. We sorta lounged after that, I figure that the meal and the sun might have made is all a bit tired and I fell asleep on the couch. After waking up, everyone else had also except for my dad, he was fidgeting with something in the kitchen - he likes to have a clean kitchen. Fussy chef.

I relocated to the caravan, and slept until quite late in the afternoon until arising around 17:00.

Early this morning though, I finished the apple pie we made the prior day - that was my first breakfast. My mom then fried me up an egg, baby marrows, onions and mushrooms and brought it to me on a Tray while I was sipping my mid-morning tea out on the veranda. That was nice.

Just now my dad and I went for a shower, it's kinda cool being able to shout to each other across the shower stalls. "Pass the soap, will you?". We shout-chat about various stuff in the shower, then continue at a more easy pace when we get out and walk back to the cottage. What fun!

My beard, I can call it that now as it's graduated to a fairly semi-respectable fluff, is looking rather like a cave man has woken up in civilisation. I'm liking it and might keep it for a while: it's kinda comfortable now. A few days back it was driving me mad as it was scratchy but it's all good now. I think I look rather like Maximus from The Gladiator. Silly, but I'm on holiday and it wonderfully represents the relaxed, care-free holiday I've had thus far - too relaxed to worry about shaving...Yay! Certainly not yet on par as my dad...could I dare to get there?!

I lie here in the caravan, still hearing my moms feet on the wood floors in the adjacent cottage, floundering about as she tries to do a little bit of everything before bed. It's now that I put my headphones and write up about the days happenings, listening to music in the background. How wonderfully my time has been spent.

Tomorrow my dad and I are heading into town for supplies of which I have a list and can share:

Water
Apple corer(the one we used broke so I'm buying my mom and new one)
Cat food
Draw money: R70(donation for Lions)
Raisens
Oats
Milk
Sasko seed brown bread
Meat
Wors (this is sausage)
Hamburgers
Cheese
Chicken
Potatoes
Onions
Butternut( been having this a lot recently and it's lovely)

So I've got to get up fairly early, around 9am which is a far cry from my usual 10-11am late starts, which I must say I do rather enjoy.

Let's see how splendid tomorrow will be.

Yesterday my dad and I went to pay for the lunch we had the previous day; they didn't have a card machine on that day because the owner took the machine to Durban or something like that...so my dad said he would come back the next day and pay in cash. Then after that we went for a drive to Tweni beach again and walked the beach. We sat on the rocks and discussed various things about life. As I walked back from the beach, the smell of 'slap chips' was in the air as we past the shop on the beach. My dad gave me the option of having some from a place he said made the best. So we headed there from the beach.To the uninformed, these are potato chips/fries which are soft. We walked into a small set of shops and my attention was drawn to a big, bald, tattooed bloke wearing an American bandana. He was sitting at a table as we walked in eating a massive slice of cake with a tiny itsy bitsy fork. He's Harley Davidson was outside. That stood out for me. When we approached the counter, there were a few others waiting already. My dad ordered a large 'chips' and asked if she could put salt and vinegar on it. She said she would. She was gorgeous. But I think I've always been drawn to South African woman. Maybe it's because they beautiful and frighten me terribly.

I looked around a bit, noticed the lack of stock in the fridge but a few cakes. I told my dad that I was going out to look around as I had not been in the adjacent shops before. I walked into a 2nd hand shop. Everything was old. Probably 3rd or 4th hand more like it. But i liked it. Reminded of me of the stuff we horded in our various garages and store rooms as a child. I came across a book of plays in England, an smiled knowing it had come with some British ancestors that came to South Africa in the past and seeing reference to England was pleasing to me. When our meal was ready, my dad found me browsing, we went back to the car after a quick detour to the post office which was in another adjacent shop. He got a a package and we collected it. It was a mechanical part for his chemical toilet which he bought recently and which the company had sent to him for free much to his amusement. We continued to a car park overlooking the beach perhaps 2 minutes from that small setup of shops we were at. We opened our chips and both sat there in the car, watching the wide expanse of the sea as we eat our chips. I held the container between us and we talked, like father and son should.

After that, we headed home. At home I decided to go for a run, I took an alternative route which was much more difficult. I ran 5.93km and had to stop at about the 75% stage as the accent was almost sheer and I couldn't maintain it. But I was happy to - the runs here are harder than in England, especially the altitude changes in my route, which is about 100 meters at times. My dad agreed and noted that in England my accent-decent was only about 9meters - I post my exercise and run statistics on the web after my runs.

That was yesterday. Today I woke up in the caravan for the first time after having decided that I'd prefer it to the cottage. I helped my mom bake an apple pie which we absolutely devoured with a tea. My dad and I both polished 3 pieces each while my mom had 2. Prior to that, my dad made a fantastic lunch and we all gathered around a small table and it was nice to be here again.

Tomorrow we've been invited to lunch with a family friend which I am both loathed to do and happy to do: I'm quite happy to spend my time pottering around here with my folks and not have to entertain anyone but then again it will be nice to be a little social I suppose...

I love spending time with my folks because, I guess, as you grow older you start appreciating them more and more so its been easy to stay away from computers, Internet and technology and the world at large. My attention is squarely isolated to spending quality time with my folks and they love it too!

I saw a "shongololo" the other day near the caravan, which is located next to the cottage, and it brought back childhood memories of me alone in the fields, barefoot, sand all over me, dry and in the sun. Insects and nature were normal, almost like my friends and it was normal. Hours and hours at a time, I'd just muck about by myself in my own little world away from my future of technology, computers and complexities of the modern life. It's sad at times to think its all gone but I think it was only the way it was because I was small, young and my impression of the world was limited that that time could not be the same if interpreted in this time with an adults interpretation. Child life was beautiful for me and do is adult life. Then, the only important things were each other, nature and being loved. Everything else was extra; school, friends, computers etc... growing up and, I guess, as we all grow up, we move and change perfectly as our characters do. I miss my past as much as I miss my present and my future. I am grateful that my soul is at rest about it, resting and the waters of my soul are calm. It helps being here though so close to my past, knowing who I am, knowing who I was us somewhat still alive albeit in a dormant way.

When I left home, my parents got me a ring that would signify my departure. I've worn it ever since and worried about ever since - ensuring I don't loose it in the swimming pool or as happened before misplaced if on the gym floor... I decided to give it to mom to wear and she said she would look after it for me and she put it on and it looked that it meant a lot to her that she was wearing something from her boy to remember him by. I liked that. I floated the idea a few days earlier and it gained traction only today. I don't need or want physical things to value, because I feel dreadful when I loose things dear to me, especially I I've attached emotion and sentiment to them. This way the only thing I value is the thoughts in my head.

Today was a walk on the beach.

We headed off from Prairie Park and went to Tweni beach. We got out the carpark that overlooks the beach and made our way down the wooden stairs and landed ourselves in the soft sand. We walked together along the beach, casually enjoying the warm wind, sea lapping around us and the overall experience of being together. The coast is so lush, green plants sprawl up along the shore and mini forests inhabit the coastline. Many times I noticed how well my mom and dad were together - great partners. Great role models. We walked one way then the other and spent some time dipping our feet in the rock pools and watching the white waves crash against the rocks further ahead. The sound is awesome, like a constant swooshing, the blistering wind blowing. I took some pictures an videos, but I like to limit doing that, because I think remembering the sensation is more important than capturing it in a picture.

After that we went to a place on the way home to have lunch. We sat outside at a wooden table in the sun facing beautifully kept gardens which housed a small plant nursery. There were two resident cats, one white one who we cuddled and another which was a Siamese like Ching, their(mom and dad) cat at home, only it was less outgoing and in fact we didn't get to stroke it at all. The sun shone down on us, the happy three of us. We ordered food - dad and me had a "Jumbo" breakfast with coffee and mom had a 3 egg omlette with hot Milo. We chatted about our most recent beach walk an how wonderful the experiance of being together is. While we were on the beach, wind in our hair, I can see them/us, clothes flapping in the wind, holding hands, avoiding the approaching tide and embracing it at the same time. My mom said that she can't remember the last time she was so happy. It is good for the soul. I'm glad I did this, for me and for them.

When we got home, we all sat on the veranda like 3 blind mice, in sequence, just watching the world in front of us, content but tired. My mom had a meeting to go to, she is a member of the Lions International organisation and is managing a project of their for charity, so she eeluctantly went off to that, but she enjoyed it she said when she finally got back. Dad and I hung about and I was just content to continue in my veranda chair and blissfully fall asleep in the sun there. My dad was fidgeting with his iPhone or his computer. I briefly picked up the book I'd been paging casually through about silly humerus quotes people have said. It's called DimWit. I put it down and just stared into the trees sometimes and enjoy the breeze and warm weather and do nothing.

I can do nothing for ages...and why not?