WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY ... almost...

In life...KISS

Keep

It 

Simple

Stupid 

:)

Thinking of Sam...

On the 10th day...we took our boys to the beach...

After all...what's a seaside holiday if you're not by the sea's side...!

at least some of the time...

It was hot and the sun came and went and came again...

as light cloud came surfing in... on a sea-breeze...

Our female child... lay hiding from 'the dreaded crabs' under our green beach-umbrella...

those same crabs...were in their turn... hiding from the seagulls...

The male children were to put it simply... NOT hiding...!

as they delved deep into all things boy...on a beach... by the sea... 

with it's roaring waves...rising... rolling... rushing... forward... only to

recede ... showing darker coarse wet sand... gone in the blink of an eye... 

the wetness i mean... disappearing as if by magic...an then the next wave of waves... 

I stood where the sea-foam kisses your toes... i am happiest there...
 and watched them...as mothers do... feasting my eyes on all they did :)
There is nothing like watching your kids having fun...
good-clean-wholesome fun...!

Naturally i had my camera in my hands...shooting away greedily...
hungry... for every.......... simply EVERYTHING on that beach...
those precious moments...... it's all we really have you know....
no longer yesterday...nor tomorrow...only the here and now...

Ice-creams were bought and devoured...but not before the melting... dripping...
sticky face and finger photos were taken :)
This time it was the turn of a blue bucket and spade...for my Bradley <3
[we buy a new one every year...]
Castles were built... and broken...like dreams...
They [my boys] even raced the waves that day...
sometimes they won...other times not...
losing to mother nature however held no sting for them...

Out of the corner of my eye...i spotted a large dark bird swoop down...
and land bravely among the waves...i moved in swiftly  to get my shot...
knowing full-well i needed my other lens...
but i thought ... just keep shooting-just keep shooting...
at one point i even spoke to 'him' as i followed...and he bobbed around...
"i see you ...  and... i see you see me too....!" i said out loud and laughed...
he was 'taking care' of lunch... unconcerned but totally aware of me...
the... a little crazy-a lot 'windblown' curly haired woman....
running along side him as he dived below a huge wave and resurfaced
safe on the other side...and i thought... we [people] learned that from them...!!


It was during my excited pursuit of this bird... fishing where no man dared to swim...!
that i became aware of another ... an elderly gentleman also 'running in' to get his photo...
both of us trying to get as close as possible without getting too wet...
a futile exercise on both counts i am afraid...

The man had little ones with him...he was most probably their grandfather...
and he was trying to show 'them' the bird... and also race them down...
down to where the ocean leaves her intriguing foam invitation... to come closer...
to play... and feel the rough sand... do what rough, water tossed sand does...

That's when it happened... i overheard him call out to them...as he play-play hopped...
into the sea... oh what was it that he said...either "i am the winner" or "i am going to win"... my gut tells me it was the latter...it doesn't really matter ... suddenly... it was as if...
 my late father-in-law had spoken those very words and was on that beach... i gave him a startled glance... and do you know what...there WAS a slight resemblance...not only in the voice and accent...
 and words chosen... but so too in 'looks' ...  it was of course sadly 'ever-so-slight' that resemblance...
 and... just like that... the spell of trying to capture a thrilling shot...
 of the fisherman...masquerading as a bird...was broken...
and i walked away from the compelling oceans edge...up the beach... to where the sand is hot and dry....
moist eyed....
thinking of Sam...

Journey

And the starting-gates are open!

It's the start of a brand-new year...we are freshly back from what was for the 5 of us a stunning holiday :)

the new school term has begun...being a lot contrary... i am prone to suffering from empty-nest syndrome ...

[yes i know it's a touch early... so can u imagine my dread of the real deal...aka, kids leaving home YIKES] let's rather not go there...

I do the school-run...70km in total every school-day...sometimes more [when the need arises]  

I signed up for it...that's one of the reasons i am a stay-at-home-mom...

I WANT to be there for them...

I have been asked how i have been able to do it for the last 11 years without fail...

I knew from the get-go that it wouldn't always be easy-peasy... i accept that...[note i write in present tense]

 it was simply... a commitment...

 In truth i see our time in my car as a golden opportunity to really connect with my kids as we zoom from here to there and back again...

A good connection is paramount to me...!

what is the point otherwise...!?

why bother to become a parent if u don't have that...it's unthinkable to my mind...

My brood and i have had MANY an important conversations in my at one time blue, silver, essen, green...and currently charcoal chariot  :) i've been asked [and answered proof of my metal i might add] many an earth-shaking, ground-breaking, jaw-dropping...

momentarily conversation stopping questions...

 in my time...in my car...

and that's why i do it...

for me...for them...

who knew...!?

 Anyway back to the other day... 

as i made my lonely journey down a quite deserted street that took me away...

it happened again...

i had one of those moments...[dripping with regret...]

the kind that had me wishing i had my camera on me...

there in that 'not so pretty' suburb ...

 with it's longer grasses and  rundown houses with  fences that sure have seen better days...

i came across a carpet of  tangerine flowers [newly fallen slightly bruised... not yet crushed...]

lying gently bathed in morning... glowing... there on the black as pitch tar... they were an oddly delightful sight...and i was once again prompted to take that photo with my minds-eye...or run the risk of letting the moment pass me by....un-noticed... NEVER !

I do not ever want to be THAT person...

too busy...too harassed...or even worse...

just couldn't care less... numb...

3 things thursday...

1)

I really hope i don't get another phone call like i did on Monday at about 9:30ish 

I had just gotten comfy... tv on-remote handy, cell phone too... laptop fired-up...
suddenly...my ringtone... 'back-in-time' by Pitbull fills the air...

i glanced at my phone to see who the caller was...and my heart sank when i saw her name...

could only mean that there was a problem of some kind...[a tummy upset perhaps...] i braced myself and answered ... to hear my 17 year old daughter tell me in a wobbly voice to please come fetch them [my 14 year old son too] ASAP as 'they' [the strikers] were said to be on their 'deranged little way' to schools in the area...

Fight or Flight kicks in FAST... my breathing changed and my hand and voice shook a little as i jumped up...dumped my laptop unceremoniously on the floor... and told her to find her brother and stay together i was on my way...

i walked hurried to the kitchen grabbed my handbag and keys and left [having a little trouble locking-up...]

The school is a good 10 to 15 [maybe more] min away.... depending.... and all i could think was would 'they' get there before me...

I drove like a mother who feared for her kids safety...and at one point i had to rein myself in ...

long story short...i would have driven over 'them' to get to my kids...thankfully it was not necessary...

and i fetch all my little chicks [and then some]...and removed us all to safety...

the kids missed 3 days of school and returned today...

2)

As i sit here and cringe as the theme music of the 1975 Jaws movie i am watching plays...u know the music i mean don't u...like just before the shark attacks....i just want to pull my feet up of the floor and 'out of the water' and i am having  flashbacks of swimming in a pool [of all things...not the ocean] as a kid and imagining that the Jaws shark was somewhere in those murky watery depths...beneath where my legs and feet dangled ... doggie-paddling for all they were worth...lol... i can remember the feeling of panic rising up in me... and then logic setting in and pushing the fear down but not totally away...  i am amazed that watching the movie  today and hearing that tell-tail music can transport me right back like that ...

3)
I am SO VERY grateful to be a stay-at-home-mom...
it allows me the privilege to be able to 'be there' emotionally and physically for Bradley as he adjusts to 'big school' aka grade 1... he is a child that needs time [more so than others] to accept change...
there were lots of tears in the beginning and some of those were mine.... i'll admit to 'a few'... [when things were at their worst] he is doing better and better...improving in stages...but i am still his safety-net at the moment... there are no more tears... but still an anxious look on his face remains that tears at my mothers-heart... we say goodbye with hugs and kisses and he joins the line behind  his classmates when the bell rings... ... but he keeps searching me out with his eyes... making and breaking contact while we still can... i try to keep looking at him so i don't miss a single glance he gives me... i smile and wave or give him the thumbs-up sign... i stand and wait [a little distance away] until his teacher arrives [a lovely lady who understands...] she greets them all personally which i love :)  and as they walk up the stairs and along the corridor to his class... i shadow their slow progress...only down below... until they reach the door... where one by one they disappear inside ...
Bradley and i wave 2 or 3 more times.. as he prepares to break our connection...
it's his turn to enter... he glances at me one last time and blows me a kiss from above... i send my kiss back...up... up into the air and over that railing it goes [straight as an arrow] to my littlest son... and today  [i found myself thinking of silent love languages or signals we send out...] and i remembered how when he was about 2 going on 3 during swimming class [when he eventually went into the pool without me] i would sit on the side and cheer him on with a smile and a 'good job Bradley' whenever he succeeded at something and whenever he needed extra encouragement i would give him a 'big blink' of my eyes and a small nod to convey a message of... 'it's ok ...you've got this...just try'  i wonder if the teacher ever caught on...?  because it was a silent communication between me and my child...
I wonder what silent signals you share in love with your little ones...?

   
                                                                                                                     

WoRdLeSs WeDnEsDaY :)

how pretty :)

Sunglasses on...hat pulled down low :)

10 days ago... i was aboard floating hotel in the middle of the warm waters of the Indian Ocean...

Sitting on a low wall surrounding the children's pool.... i kept a thoroughly mesmerized watch over my youngest's pool antics...

It  was truly surreal...

under the bluest of  skies...dazzled by the brilliant white of the ship...the salty pool water sloshing about [thanks to the pitching and rolling of our ship] was the kind of aqua...that convinces one that nothing else matters but a swim...

the wind was with us [she always is on a ship] but she was friendly... and all around were the sights and sounds of  Summer at her best :)

As i  soaked up the sunshine [happy to be sitting doing nothing...my book laying lifeless in my lap...] i began 'people watching'...

I followed an 'epic' battle between 2 boys [naturally!...lol] who had chosen our lovely pool as their arena...this was great fun ! because kids just are ! and because things did not really escalate into that ugly 'physical dimension' that some boys like to visit...it was all so captivating that i actually took some shots...[something i shy away from normally...taking pictures of others children...] the things that stood out here for me was...1) where were their mothers...? and 2) that Bradley was also 'watching' this production with great enjoyment...just as i was...lol... u ONLY ever get 2 kinds of people in the world...in this case it's the 'doers' and the 'watchers' no prizes for guessing which kind my littlest son and i are :)

Sitting behind me on deckchairs [that saw no shade no matter what the time of day]

I also watched a woman and her child of about 3 or 4 years...talking...laughing...playing...

sitting a while and then 'going in' to cool off ...they unknowingly shared the pool with my Bradley..the mom enjoyed a lighthearted splashing session in the kiddies pool...i enjoyed them too...

Their swim over they exited the pool returning to the sun-drenched brown deckchairs behind me and to my right...i hardly had to turn to observe the mom...as she picked up a bright orange towel...

she began to dry off her child...

and like a lightning bolt out of the blue an image came simply and beautifully to me...

with each gentle albeit purpose filled stroke of that towel... 

she reminded me of a lioness... licking her cub....and i acknowledged [again]...

ALL mothers whether animal or human...across the color and economic divide - we are all the same...

lovingly tending to our cubs needs...

Sitting there as i was...feeling alive and blessed...and open...

 i was moved...

Bradley by the pool :)

Bradley on the 'wall' i spoke of :)

A mind-blowing thought...from me...

"this white ship floating between blues... all day...

and so too

 between the blacks of night... glowing...all lit-up...

drifting on an ocean of music...

all alone... but not lonely... 

must be a vision to behold !"

Shots that show the 'motion of the ocean'

the low wall surrounding the pools is designed to contain these restless

waters...a delight...! for kids of all ages ;)

Up the stairs...if u want to Jacuzzi... 

The back of the ship...

defines cruising...

Leaving happy 'white water' trails across the seas ...

:)