The simple things

No matter your career, your lifestyle or your age, I'm sure you'll have to think really hard when I ask you when the last time was that you just sat. Sat in a quiet place, emptied your mind of thoughts and took in the surrounds. Life for the average person is busy - this life that we're not supposed to take for granted, that we're supposed to enjoy and savour, is often spent just trying to get through each day.

As a result we live like hamsters on a treadmill, running all day, often without really going anywhere. It's no way to live life and one day you'll stop and say "Hell, where did it go - my life? And what did I do with it?"

Driving around Jozi I take very little notice of where I am and what is going on around me - as long as I get to where I am going on time - or only a little bit late! But there's a part of Republic Road between William Nicol and Bram Fischer where the speed limit is 60km and there are ALWAYS speed traps. Whether it be a Monday or a Sunday, there will be a little person sitting on the side of the road in his/her blue cap and SAPS uniform - and a camera, waiting for someone to drive faster than they should be. Some are crafty and sit behind a tree or a bush, others sit anywhere as long as they're in the shade. What has happened on that stretch of road is that everyone knows about the traps and only the uninformed travel over the speed limit. I hate [intensely dislike - my children are not allowed to use the word hate, and so I should stick to my own rules!] driving so slowly but I can honestly say that it is the only time I slow down on the road, and in doing so, always seem to breathe a little sigh of relief...

To get to the point though, this weekend just past we were invited by some new friends to join them at the Rolling M Ranch, which is in the Berg, near Winterton. Us (unintentional) city slickers packed our wellies and our hiking boots - and my camera and my straightening tongs (just joking about the straightening tongs) and left the house at 4h55 on Saturday morning to meet our friends at the onramp to the highway. 90 minutes into the drive the sun started to spread its warm and friendly rays, and I thought "Wow! When was it that we last watched something as simple, yet as necessary, as the sun rise?" And from that moment on, the rest of the weekend was all about the simple things.

We drove through mist so thick we couldn't see the car in front of us - and imagined a great T-Rex climbing the road ahead. We played with Great Dane puppies, giggled at their huge paws and smelt their puppy breath, we let the children run anywhere they wanted to go because we didn't have to worry about traffic, we squelched around in mud, got dirty, rode horses, went fishing, watched the cows being milked and - most importantly - spent time not only together, but also with new friends, thereby reminding us that there really is more to life than what sometimes becomes pure drudgery.

It was just what I needed - and a well-timed reminder to take notice of, and truly enjoy, the simple things.

xx