With friends at the Big Tree

Our soccer-holiday has barely begun when I suggested that us soccer moms meet for a picnic. While I was delighted to have a break from the 3 weekly practices and weekend games, I knew I was going to miss the chats we have while the children do their running around. On warmer days we’ve sat on the side lines watching the practices more actively, once we even walked a few laps around the fields to get some exercise, but mostly we pile into one car together and never run out of conversation topics. God has blessed me wonderfully with these new friendships.

Our boys attended the holiday club last week so our picnic was postponed to this week, and some of us got together today. One mom suggested we drive out to the Big Tree near Hoekwil which is a short drive out of George through the Wilderness. We are so spoiled to be living in this part of the world right now, it is beautiful beyond perfect description! To get from George to Wilderness one has to drive down the Kaaiman’s pass along the Kaaiman’s river to the beach – and it’s a lonnnnng stretch of golden sand! The forests, mountains and beaches are a real feast for the eyes.

Once we arrived at the Big Tree, an 800 year-old tree that is very big, all the children jumped out of the cars and ran off into the forest together. They didn’t need anything in the form of entertainment as they played together! We ate quite soon after arriving and the parents sat chatting while the children attempted to start a fire. They began to collect sticks and stumps of all sizes in their efforts to find wood that was dry, but that was a very difficult task because almost everything was wet under the cover of the trees despite the fact that it last rained about 10 days. Serviettes and scraps of paper were then the item of interest as they realised that they needed something that would burn quickly to start the fire. One mom fetched a small newspaper from the car and then the experiments began in earnest! I watched Ryan put a whole sheet of newspaper ontop of the pile of sticks and light it in hopes that he could start the fire from the top. It ended up being blown off the pile in the gust of flames and he was forced to stamp on it furiously to try and put it out when it fell on the ground next to the fireplace. The fire never did really happen which was really disappointing for all the children who’d already put marshmallows on their sticks, but that didn’t dampen their spirits!

We then decided to embark on the short circular walk in the forest. I was told by two people that it was flat and short, and even though I still don’t feel well I joined in. It was really flat, the first half of the walk is up a gentle incline and it ends on gentle decline. It wasn’t a difficult walk at all and the children all ran it quite quickly (the frenzy of the crowd seemed to carry them!) but one of the other moms who was carrying a toddler and I finished long after the others. That particular mom studied medicine and gave me strict instructions to head straight to bed when I got home, he,hehe!

Today was a lovely, sunny and warm day and I think the last of the warm, dry days for a little while. Cooler temperatures and more rain lie ahead for us in the next few days, which probably translates into more DVDs and hot drinks!  We had a lovely time outdoors with our homeschooling friends and it was wonderful to see some of the other moms again. Not all of the regular soccer moms were there, which means we’ll just have to make some other arrangements to get together. Now that sounds wonderful!

PS: One of the highlights of my day yesterday was a very long phone call from my friend Sheila in Cyprus! We chatted for so long that I couldn’t stand anymore and needed to get a barstool to sit on, it was wonderful! It was just like sitting on her couch in their lounge as we chatted about a zillion things in between various interruptions by our children. It was lovely to hear her children talking in the background and to get a fresh glimpse into their everyday life. I tell you, friendship is a wonderful, wonderful thing!