Bright Morning Light: An Account of Existence

Sunset in Gordon's Bay, December 1

Yep, I was at Cape Point.

I sit, sipping on my milk as darkness blankets the field stretching out below my window, interrupted in the distance by security lights from houses closer to the ocean. I can't see the ocean now but I know it's there, quetly accepting its constant routine of rising and receding. Quiet Christmas music wafts through my room from the hidden speakers in my laptop computer, my connection to the outside world. The simple routine of my days goes on in a never ending parade of time. I wake, work, eat, nap, work, eat, read, paint, sleep, again and again. The changing weather provides a feeling of freedom and quietly juxtaposes the learned expectation of a white Christmas. The days grow warmer and warmer while the Christmas music speaks increasingly of snowy wonderlands and gathering cold. I refuse to give up my favorite time of year however, and go on singing of that wintery wonderland, simply because of the unfortunate lack of summer Christmas songs. The countdown to Christmas, which in reality began several months ago, now makes itself known several times a day.
A recollection of the month that has - quite regretfully - passed since my last post, brings memories of adventures interspersed with many quiet days of simple contentment. A weekend of adventure to Betty's Bay, Hermanus, Boulders, and Cape Point was followed by a quiet weekend of repose at the Oudekloof Wine Estate & Luxury Guesthouse (http://www.oudekloofwineestate.co.za) owned by my Aunt Lyndsay and Uncle François and their friends. Lyndsay and François attended a wedding while the au pair and I entertained my almost two year old cousin and relished in the peace and serenity of the Tulbagh Valley.

The view from the dam at the Tulbagh farm

Granni and I enjoying the sun and the view

The ensuing week is remembered with far less fondness as one marked by pain and fever. Fortunately the week and weekend passed and spirits improved. After much impatience and anticipation the following week was marked by the arrival of the expected Thanksgiving package followed two days later by its Christmas counterpart from the Student Missions Office and Department of Behavioural Sciences at Andrews University. The treasures enclosed which in the states would be mundane and overlooked, in those boxes became the most valuable of treasures. This past weekend was marked by the completion of one of my French courses (along with high hopes of the fast approaching completion of the other) and the joy of rapidly devouring a book for the simple purpose of the enjoyment of reading. And now, today has passed, in its own quiet way. Neither remarkable nor unremarkable, but simply passed. What tomorrow brings, I shall undoubtedly know... tomorrow.