I was fortunate enough as a teenager to live close to a river in Zimbabwe called the Suri Suri River and our house was right next to it. It was our little Eden on earth. A few meters from our home was this magical Amazon jungle at our fingertips. On particularly hot days, we used to take tractor tyre tubes and go and swim in the river. If there had been a heavy rainfall we were able to jet down the river at quite a speed and what made it even more exciting for us was the element of danger this presented. The storm would have stirred up the river and there were obstacles in the river and we would try to steer ourselves around the obstacle course with shrieks of young abandonment and joy.
Our place was one of the favourite places to be for the local teenagers as there was this river to explore. We went fishing regularly when the river was calm, suntanned and bathed to our hearts content. Looking back, I think my parents would have been horrified at the chances we took, but we were not harmed unless you count the time our friend visited us and went fishing with my brother. Andy was younger than we were by 5 or 6 years and he was our mascot, and wanted to keep up with the older teenagers to show that he was one of the boys.
Andy and Bain were fishing on a small rowboat we had and as Andy cast he somehow managed to get the hook stuck in my brothers back. This was a gruesome sight and we rushed Bain off to the doctors to have the hook removed from Bain’s back. Andy was mortified and no matter how many times we told him it was an accident he was beyond consoling. After that incident, we would tell Andy to cast off away from us and then we would join him. I used to tease Andy that if he was a few years older he would so be my husband when the time came.
I paid the price for teasing him quite a couple of years later, I was staying with my parents in Zimbabwe and my younger sister and I were tanning topless by our very secure and private pool. We had our eyes covered and were happily unaware that Andy had come through to the pool area to come and visit. Dene my younger brother who was 9 at the time obviously thought this would be very funny sent Andy through to the pool area where we were.
Val and I had no idea that we had a visitor or that the visitor was getting a full view. We heard Dene say, go through Andy they will be glad to see you and before we knew it, Andy was in front of us. Val and I scrambled to grab our towels to cover up and Andy who is 5 years younger than I am gleefully said “Gottcha”
I was so embarrassed as I had not seen Andy for many years and this was not how I wanted to meet him again and catch up. Oh boy did he catch up.... Words fail me! The last time I saw was when he came to my wedding and he was still a teenager. Now I had this handsome young man staring at my sister and I with a grin on him that even Tom Cruise could not have pulled off. This bright beautiful dazzling smile from this gorgeous vision standing in front of me. It was hysterical and I told him I would ground him and send him to his room if he did not stop teasing me. Dene was clobbered on the ears for his humour and it took a while to catch him as he was running around giggling and cheering that he had arranged this whole exposure episode. I lost all my composure and dignity. I had been the girl who protected him as a young boy in high school and had warned everyone that if they so much as touched a hair on his head they would have to answer to me. Even though I am short, I was quite a tough cookie at school and I think the fact that my best friend was 6ft 4 inches tall and we were inseparable made my threats quite convincing. Add to that that my older Brother Bain had also attended the same school and he had a reputation of protecting his sister to the ends of the earth I did have a little bit of influence. Well I thought I did….but Not as much as I thought I had - as I found out one day.
I was a senior in my final year at school, was the athletics captain for my schoolhouse, and thought I was well known. Well my self-confidence took a real blow when this 1st year junior came to me and asked me to go to the tuck shop for a senior for him, as he was not in the mood to stand in line to buy the order that was given to him. I looked at him and asked him why he thought he had the right to ask me.
He replied that I was a junior too and he thought that maybe I would do it for him. I stood there with my mouth open flapping in the breeze and with an ever so high and mighty voice said, “Excuse me, I am not a junior, I am your damn senior.” I was mortified and brought back down to earth when I realized my supposed status was not as well recognized as I had thought. Ralph my best friend who had witnessed this bent over, picked the young offender up, placed him on top of a hedge, and told him to mind his manners. My self-esteem never recovered and I was moaning about being short and started my drama queen training when Ralph decided to make me a certificate, which was not welcomed! “Michelle is Not a Junior; find your own junior to be your skivvy!” He seemed pleased with himself when he handed me the certificate! I handed it back to him and was not impressed when I saw that he had tacked this to where I was sitting for our next lesson. Very funny indeed ...NOT.
I was the same height as the new first year students (13 year olds!) and no matter how hard I tried with stretching and walking on my tip[y toes, I was still the short one and was lost in the crowds. I used to tease Ralph that he was dilly because he was breathing pure oxygen. We were called the Pencil and the Eraser at school. Quite a funny couple we made. Ralph towered over me and was a typical muscular athletic boy/man, and I was this midget with a chip on my shoulder.
Back to the pool incident; I stared at Andy who was no longer this kid, I was blushing had covered myself head to toe so to speak, and was at a loss for words. How do you offer someone who has just caught you half-naked a cup of coffee or something cold to drink? I think he needed a dip in the pool actually after the shock of seeing Val and I.
I admonished him, and shrieked with laughter, called him a little sh—and threatened to drown him. He quickly reminded me that he was much taller than I was and stronger than me and I did not have my bodyguards with me. What a reunion we had! In all my life, I never thought I would find myself in a compromising position with Andy my Junior at school. Life is incredibly funny and has its little moments of “If I could turn back the clock” It took me a while to regain my composure and even while I am typing this I am still tingling with embarrassment. Dene of course thought this was hysterical and all he could say was “Well, I wanted to swim and you and Val would not let me into the pool area and I decided to get my own back on you. That will teach you to suntan topless!” and he ran off giggling and could not wait to tell my mother that Val and I showed our boobs to Andy!
Mom of course thought this was very funny and to our disgust did not discipline Dene! Val and I were on guard after that and only tanned when the monster was away at friends! Andy was advised he would have to phone for a visit in future. He of course said no ways, he would visit more often!
I thought the heat in Chegutu was bad, thankfully, we had the pool to dip in when we moved from the house on the river, but we did miss the jungle experience and the long walks along the river’s edge. I was remembering this last week while we sat in our office melting with the heat and even though Bern and I are on a designer diet (eat whatever we crave) we did give in to temptation and buy ice cream. I was tempted to climb into the pool and eat the ice cream cone but my responsible side took over (yes I do have one of those). I ate the ice cream and moaned about the heat wave we were experiencing - 42 degrees according to the weather station. So when Val invited us to go to the beach house this weekend we were very happy to accept her invite.
We took the dogs with us and as circumstances would have it, we had a guest for the weekend. My friend’s son was in Durban for personal business and his lift had been delayed so he accompanied us for the weekend. The only place for him was in the back of the car with the dogs. The dogs thought this was a great game; they took turns sitting on his lap in the back of the car. Fiona is not a small dog and she takes up just about the whole back seat all on her own.
Jinx had decided she wanted to return to the house but had chosen the wrong path to follow and the vegetation was quite dense and high so he could not see her. All he could see was the white tip of Little Boy’s tail as he was searching the dense growth for treats or something to roll in. Bern called the dogs and hey presto, ears up, Jinx and Little Boy darted back to the house. Mike was exhausted and explained that he was not coming back to the house without the dogs. He had seen Fiona return to the house but for a second took his eyes off Jinx and she just disappeared. He did no shell collecting.
The dogs were so happy with life and very tired from their romp at the beach. Mike needed a tranquilizer and a pitcher of water to cool down. After lunch, Bern and I took a walk to the beach and the dogs were only too keen to join us. We walked from the rocks to the beach a few meters from Val’s private rock beach and they explored, ran, and played. Mike finally managed to find shells for his daughter and Bern and I relaxed on the beach enjoying the view as the waves crashed into the rocks and our dogs loved the adventure. Eventually they joined us on the beach and sat almost on top of us to make use of the shadow we were throwing for shade.
While Mike was shell hunting, Bern and I were relaxing on the sand and chatting. He joined us later and was describing the rock climbing experience when he almost attacked! He was walking on the rocks and out of the corner of his eye he saw movement and spotted this very big crab and he jumped. Now Mike was showing us how he jumped and was in theatrical mode when he jumped and his foot scooped the sand - I was showered with a sheet of sand. Totally covered and the sand slipped into my clothing and every nook and cranny was coated in sea sand.
Mike ran over to me to try to dust the sand off me and all he managed to do was nearly dislodge my head off my shoulders as he tried to brush the sand off my hair, which was coated in sand, and my body was now a sand castle. I sat there and knew if I wanted to shake the sand out of my clothing I would land up jiggling on the beach and would inadvertently expose myself. This was not going to happen, so I sat there all demurely and tried to brush off the sand on my clothing. All I achieved was to brush the sand onto the exposed cleavage and it trickled down and down! Hot, sticky and a magnet for sand….. It was actually comical – Bern of course enjoyed the spectacle and she chortled along with me.
Jinx was calm and well behaved and was the star on the leash. She has finally overcome her fear of the leash and is the perfect companion for a walk now. Fiona is a bit of a bulldozer and I do not have the strength to control her on a leash, Little Boy is the resident lawn mower the way he crawls on the ground and Jinx is the expert walker on a leash. Score 1 for Jinx. Finally, we have found something that Jinx excels in and can be rewarded for. Finally!!!! Jinx is a cross between a jackrabbit, a ferret and an alien and up until now we have struggled a bit with her over zealousness and joyful puppy like behaviour - Finally, she can wear the badge of Good Dog. That is until I decided I needed to wet my hair with the hand held shower this morning.
She could not resist my stance as I bent over the bath and for her efforts-, I now have a bathroom, which has been washed from the ceiling to the walls to the floor. She is cheeky and has a tendency to sneak up behind me and nip my behind in play. She has never nipped sore or even broken the skin, but she cannot help herself. I nearly landed up in the bath and managed to shriek a NO Jinx! I was telling Bern about it this morning and commented that thank goodness Jinx did not nudge me into the bath as I was leaning over the bath eyes closed and wetting my hair! Bern would have had to rescue me and knowing her sense of humour, she would have been laughing uncontrollably and landed up falling into the bath as well. When you laugh, you have no strength at all and then funnier situations tend to happen.
We are so blessed to have a place to go to over the weekend and we go to a magical place that heals you and gives you enough energy to face another grueling week. Looks like we are in for a cooler week her in Durban and there will be no trips to the pool for a quick dip or trips to the shop for an ice cream. Wish me luck!
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