Day 82

Elephant tree at the Ipswich Audubon Reserve.

Tonight Matthew phoned to remind me that we had a mandatory athletics meeting at his school at 6.30, so I had to rush home from school through the sheets of rain clogging the highway, a panoply of blurred red brake-lights, and windscreen-wipers doing overtime (Nick named them 'rain-surfers' when he was a little boy).  One big fright when a truck on the other side of the highway splashed a puddle right over the dividing wall on to my windscreen, sounding like a bucket of gravel being emptied on my car! 

I dropped Matt off outside the school because we were late, and went to find a parking spot, which turned out to be far away from the school.  So after the meeting we ventured out into the cold windy rain and I held the little umbrella over Matthew and myself awkwardly, because I am much shorter than he is.  Then Matt took the umbrella and I put my arm around him to keep us close together and under it.  It was like trying to keep up with my dad when I was a little girl, him marching purposefully along beside me.  Then we saw some people walking towards us and Matthew gave me the umbrella, put on his hood and moved out of the little umbrella's protective ring, a bit embarrassed at being seen too close to his mother.  And while I understand this perfectly, and accept it as right, a little piece of my heart suffers at this small affront, another stride of my broad-shouldered son, who is very nearly a man, on the road to independence.

So today I have drawn my watch, which is of course a symbol for TIME passing, which Matt says I mention too often.  I suppose it just strikes you more as you get older, how fast everything goes.  For example, I have been teaching at the Ecole now for 8 years.  Already! 

This watch has an interesting history.  It is a South African Airways watch that a friend of ours found in Nahant, and recognising its origin, he decided to give it to the only South African he knew at the time, Tim.  Who then gave it to me, as he has a watch already.  They both thought that all it needed was a battery.  I put it on just to try it and it obviously recognised me as a South African pilot, because it began working, and has done so ever since!  So I always have both times on my watch together, so I can think what Jess is doing in Stellenbosch, for example, having supper when we are having lunch.  I wish I had one which had London time on it too, then I would have both daughters' time-zones on my wrist.  But invariably when I look at the time I think of both of them, I can, after all, do the math.