2023. Are you ready for whatever is going to be flung at us this year? For South Africans, the year has started with up to 10 hours every day without electricity. And the most upsetting part of this is the feeling of powerlessness that comes with it. Frankly, it scares me. There is no way an economy can grow, or even survive, without the power to work. And from here, it is pretty much down hill into a deep, inextricable mire of societal issues. Even more than we face now.
Despite my gloomy start to this blog, my year actually started off Very Well. As midnight rolled the years over, we - the 5 of us - were still eating the feast that our son and his partner (S) had prepared for us in Cambridge.
And what a feast it was - scallops on cauliflower puree with pomegranate seeds, cheese souffle, roast beef with potatoes and asparagus, and a rich chocolate tart - all locally sourced ingredients cooked to perfection. What an immense gift to start the year surrounded by my lovely family.
Christmas was just as special. S was still in Cape Town, so the 4 of us spent the most relaxing, leisurely day celebrating love, and being together. Some days are stand out moments in life. This was one of them.
We spent most of our holiday in Cambridge itself. It is a beautiful place, small enough to have most things in walking distance, and big enough to find new places to explore every day. I love the cobbled streets, the river, the quirky sense of humour scattered around the place.
(Check out https://www.dinkydoors.co.uk/ as an example.)
And we had SNOW. It dazzled and delighted us. How wonderful to be surrounded by blankets of white fields.
We took a lot of photographs because snow is a strange phenomenon for us at the bottom of Africa.
We ventured into London twice. (There is an excellent parking app if anyone is needing that sort of info - people let out their driveways or front garden space for a day, and it is much cheaper and works much better than trying to park officially anywhere in the outer London area. Park at the edge of zone 2, and use the underground - it's quick and affordable....) Our daughter had prepared a "treasure hunt" (my description, not hers) and mapped out a route to see the unusual side of London. So we went to Hoxton to see a Monster Supply Store.
(It's really a front for something far more sinister than monsters - it raises funds for creative writing courses. Monsters won't scare the world, but creative writing just might). We found, after much searching, because it is UNDER the Bloomberg Building, the Temple of Mithras.
We went to Novelty Automation (https://www.novelty-automation.com/). We explored St Dunstans, a casualty of the second world war. Another treasure was an Algerian coffee store that has been around since 1887.
Our visit there was fleeting because our feet were sore and it was raining. We did the mainstream stuff too - Hamleys, Burlington Arcade, Selfridges etc and rocked up home at a respectably late 11pm.
I am worried I am making you all a little jealous, so I won't go on and on about all the fabulous times we had, or the delicious pub meals, or seeing beloved family, or the hilarious games we played, or our trips to Leicester, Norwich and Surrey. Or the London Christmas lights and atmosphere, or the quirky house we stayed in (The house swap thing worked well) I won't even mention the Kings Speech bingo, or the swans on the river Cam. And I will avoid stories about the snow wanderings and wood fires with mulled wine. Suffice to say, you would have wanted to be there too.
I seem to have written myself out of my load shedding bad mood. Remembering all the good stuff is an important balance when life seems a bit dark. The Monster Supply store is definitely onto something- creative writing is an excellent way to tame a Kraken.
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