Reflection, Travel

Candy striped sneakers and turning 42…

Being the geographer I am I know that female life expectancy in NZ is 81.46 years.  That makes me officially middle aged as of Thursday.  I am having a really hard time getting my head around this!

I have always been quite excited about birthdays and finding ways to celebrate.  This was the first one I really just ignored until it arrived.  My darling family were bugging me right up to the last minute about what and how we were going to acknowledge my number day.

This whole situation has resulted in some serious reflection time.  So here are a few of my musings…

What are you supposed to have achieved by middle age?  A happy marriage. Nope.  A kid or two. Nope.  That house with the accompanying mortage. Nope. A successful career.  Hmm, debatable.  I LOVE my work environment but it took me a step backwards and a serious pay cut to get there.

I have also had a very non-linear employment journey.  In my mind I think this means I could give practically anything a go. Unfortunately it has held me back as many prospective employers are not too sure what to do with me. My current team leader would be the exception.  She took a chance on me and her support has been invaluable.  She definitely gives me space to play to my strengths and for that I will be eternally grateful… And there it is, the first blessing to count.

But what about the rest…

Well, for the girl so passionate about her birth place Africa – its red earth in my DNA – I sure have a lot of stamps in passports.  So reluctant to leave.  Yet that first travel experience in 1994 literally opened a world of possibility.

And so I can tell you what it feels like to wander the streets of London, Paris, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Nice, Genoa, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Wellington, Melbourne, Bath, Bristol, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Maputo, Harare, Gabarone, Montpellier, Volterra, San Gimignano, Lucca, Windsor, Aylesbury, Waikiki, Hilo and Auckland.

I have watched the countryside roll by from the windows of cars, buses, trains in Pennsylvania, New York, Baltimore, Maryland, England, Scotland, France, Tuscany, the Lake District, the North and South Islands of NZ, Botwana, Zimbabwe, and all around South Africa.

I have had more breathtaking moments than I can count in nature – that is where my soul really sings.  Standing on the edge of Lake Wanaka or catching my breath at the top of Mt Tongariro.  Breathing in the silence in the Kgalagadi red dunes.  Drinking in the view from the top of the Drakensberg escarpment looking over Mpumalanga. Watching the seasonal waters arrive in the heart of the Okavango Delta.  The itchy heat of a summer day in the north of Kruger Park.  The numb on my face of standing in the snow at Glencoe or sailing with the wind in my face on Loch Ness, letting the sand ooze between my toes at Waimea Bay, north shore of Oahu or standing on the edge of the world at Kilauea Crater, Hawaii.. and so so so many more.  What an immense privilege!

I got to call some interesting places “home”.  My two little places in Maun, Botswana come to mind.  Or avoiding the hippos and the sleeping elephants on my walk back to my little house in the heart of the Delta each evening.  My quirky shipping container house in Blikkiesdorp, Twee Rivieren, Kgalagadi.

As I recall these places and times I am also reminded of the incredible people I have met and shared life with even if just for a short time.

Seeing life in this way has so often taken me out of myself.  What I mean is that so much of life today is taken up with just getting through the day for all of us.  It can be quite an insular experience especially for an introvert like me.  Yes, I need the time by myself to reflect, mediate and recharge but too much time alone is never good.  We are wired for connection.  Travelling and moving around has been the best way for me to get out of my comfort zone and connect with people.  Again, what an immense privilege!

And so yes, I am now middle aged.  No, I have not achieved any of the milestones usually associated with life at this point.  But no regrets, only oodles of gratitude for a life rich in experiences.  May I do this richness justice by using what I have learned along the way to live more carefully on this planet and show more compassion for you, my fellow travellers in the second half of my life.

And I think I will continue to wear candy striped sneakers – the ones my amazing sister got me for my birthday because the style name is the same as mine.  I will still love the Harry Potter books and movies and anything by JRR Tolkien and even teen movies from the 80s like The Breakfast Club…. and I will still believe in magic…

With that I am adventure bound once more – leaving for Edinburgh on Thursday.  Some time on a job experience programme at Edinburgh Zoo and then to England for time with special family…. can’t wait!

Ending off with two of my most favourite quotes, more like mantras these days…

“Not all those who wander are lost” JRR Tolkien

“Have courage and be kind” Cinderella

Blessings, Christmas, Family, New Year, Reflection

A little reflection on the season just been

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The baubles and tinsel have been carefully packed away for another year.  The pantry is clear of all those little indulgences.  Boxing Day sales have been and gone.  Even the fireworks and the countdowns and the resolutions have been ticked off.

Now the balmy days of summer stretch ahead.  This time of year toys with me.  Do I give into moments soaking up the sun, afternoon naps, sipping cool drinks while curled up with a good book and totally relish no responsibilities, deadlines, timetables, etc.?  Or do I allow the New Year’s rejuvenation to reinvigorate and work, plan, list, do for the coming months?  This year I opted for ticking off a to do list and relishing in a sense of productiveness.

But right this moment I pause to reflect on yet another festive season gone by.  What does is all mean really?  What is the point?

I pause in gratitude for the safe, beautiful place I live.  A place where a festive season held no loss, no tragedy, no hate, no violence.  For me it held family, belonging, blessings, love and the gift of hope for our futures.

I so appreciate being able to get wrapped up in the Christmas “hype” but still not allowing it to be in a superficial way.  But rather in a way that celebrates the blessings me and my family have been gracefully given.

Here are a couple of blessings – one for Christmas and one for the New Year – that speak to me about the truth of this season:

I thank my sister for sharing the Christmas blessing with me from Lion Book of 1000 Prayers for Children by Lois Rock (I could not find an author for the New Year blessing)
I thank my sister for sharing the Christmas blessing with me from Lion Book of 1000 Prayers for Children by Lois Rock (I could not find an author for the New Year blessing).  The photos in the background are mine – one sunset and one sunrise in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Even though we are 16 days into 2015, I wish all humanity a blessed year ahead.

Christmas, Family, Food, Music

Menus and Playlists

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Only a few more sleeps until the Big Day.  Time to set the mood. Truth be told I have been setting the mood with my Christmas playlist for the last month or so.

My playlist varies a little year to year but my absolute favourite that always takes centre stage is any Christmas song by Bing Crosby (he reminds me of my Grandad a lot).  Then there is Harry Connick Jr’s What a Night! A Christmas Album and, of course, Michael Bublé’s Christmas – you cannot go wrong!

HCJ

This year’s find is definitely Christmas at Downton Abbey – old school and fabulous!  A highlight being Carson reciting ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Christmas-at-Downton-Abbey

 

Now the music is sorted, you can’t go past a good advent calendar. Jacqui Lawson creates the most spectacular electronic advent calendar each year…. a must have for me.  I love how interactive it is – making snowflakes, decorating the tree, arranging flowers, wrapping gifts for under the tree – all to wonderful Christmas music.  A fabulous replacement gift instead of sending Christmas cards.

And then, of course, there is the menu.  Us girls tend to start talking menus around the time we decorate at the beginning of December. These days our plan is our side of the family at Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Eve and then my sister and her hubbie and the nephews join my brother in law’s family Christmas Day.  So we aim to keep things simple and only do one cook up so the leftovers take us through the next few days.

Kitchen day is therefore Christmas Eve.  Our menu is all about the meat, we are South African after all.  That definitely means one cut of meat needs to be barbecued – that will be the lamb this year.  Mom will have a secret recipe herb rub I could never divulge.  I will have a go at brining turkey breast before adding a herb butter wrapping it in bacon and maple syrup and cooking.  This is our take on a Donna Hay recipe.  And finally we will glaze a gammon with plum and chilli.  The accompaniments will be salads and baby potatoes using all the beautiful fresh produce we are so blessed to have access to here in NZ.  Dessert is my take on an I Quit Sugar For Life recipe – sugar free individual lemon meringue pies in jars.

The lemon meringue pie recipe is in this book
The lemon meringue pie recipe is in this book

We will try and fit in our homemade Christmas Pud and Vanilla Custard for a quiet Christmas Day dinner or perhaps wait till Boxing Day.

I haven’t covered the Christmas mince pies, gingerbread men or the summer fruits sangria we will also indulge in – three days of complete excess really.  Having experienced Christmas times the complete opposite of this – alone and with no means for a feast – I am so incredibly grateful for all we have been given to enjoy.

I wish you happy planning and anticipation – it is half the fun!

Christmas, Family, Holidays

Holiday Rituals Part 2

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Part 2 of my holiday rituals is all about decorating and surrounding us with all things Christmas.  This process for me starts in about September and settling on a theme for the year.  This could be based around a colour, a set of colours, a piece of art, or really anything that inspires me.

This year’s theme actually occurred to me last Christmas and the idea of using rustic elements – twigs, twine, wood, glass and metal.  It morphed over time into more of a birds/owls and woodland theme based on a pack of paper napkins I found.

My vision board for this year
My vision board for this year

So November is prep month – checking what I already have in the Christmas boxes, a list of what I might need to buy and, of course, how I can get my craft on.

I bought a number of birds of different kinds from all sorts of different stores.  Some to hang on the tree, some to place about the place with a bird house and a lovely candle holder to use as a centre piece.

For the crafty bits, I bought some unbleached calico and hessian as well as iron on sheets for fabric.  I made a couple of cushions, place mats and some wall art using these bits and pieces.

Decorating day is always the first weekend in December.  Although this year the 1st of December was a Monday so I went with Sunday, 30 November.  This seems a good time to start our Advent.

And this is a taste of what I came up with this year.

A little snapshot of Christmas 2014
A little snapshot of Christmas 2014

It’s all about trees, owls, other woodland creatures, reds, greens, gold, silver and white…. paying homage to European winters and woodlands, berries and snow.

Happy Holidays!