Homecoming.

A guest blog from Liz…

I just spent an amazing three weeks in South Africa with my partner. We traveled throughout the country and experienced things that I could only dream about…like seeing a leopard sleeping in a tree at dusk, watching whales on the coast trying to remove barnacles from their hides on the rocks, and drinking incredible wine in Franschoek, an area reminiscent of Alsace. I feel so fortunate and grateful.

In a small brewpub in a town North of Durban, we met some British travelers – we called them “the Daves,” as they were “Uncle Dave” and his nephew “Dave.” Really! They were a pretty amusing pair. I recall Uncle Dave talking about life’s irony (or “ay-rone-ee” as he said with a strong Birmingham accent).

You know, life has a way of presenting little challenges in between the perfect moments. And I think that it makes us appreciate these moments even more. So as I sit here typing and pondering the irony of life’s little challenges, I thought I’d share my musings on homecoming.

Irony #1 – “No wonder they call our neighborhood “Wood-moor”

I arrived home, after 19 hours on a plane, to an entire oak tree sitting on my lawn. Yes, sitting, not growing or standing. You see, the landlord had decided to cut it down for safety reasons while we were away. And he determined that the neighbors would all be flocking to our lawn with their axes and splitters to stock up on firewood for the upcoming Winter. And, that some folks would even want to make furniture out of the pieces. So the tree remains on our lawn awaiting the flocks. Never mind that the pieces are mostly larger than 3 feet across and 2 to 4 feet deep.

Irony #2 –Upsetting the boy – more wood tales

We hired a cat sitter to keep our boy company part of the time we were away. The rest of the time that we were gone, a neighbor and a friend kept him company. I received regular emails about how happy and calm he was. However, it seems that in the midst of the chaos of tree chopping and the noise and disturbance, the cat freaked out and destroyed our leather furniture. You see, he had no respite, no place to run to, no means of reaching his litter box. So he rebelled. Do you think that perhaps we can take some of the wood in the front yard and build a new bench and chair?

Irony #3 – Things come in threes – and so it goes…

Tim is scheduled to fly home today. From London. We were unable to fly home together because he had spent a month in Kenya prior to meeting up with me in Johannesburg. And so he had to fly home the way he went to Africa, i.e., via Nairobi and London. Simple enough, yes?

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been making arrangements with Larry, the landlord, to minimize the wood “pile” prior to Tim’s arrival. After all, why should we both have to deal with the wood shock right after landing? So, Larry has agreed to come by this morning and chop some wood. Should reduce the pile by about, hmmm, one foot, if we’re lucky.

But Larry has bought some extra time. It seems that Tim is going to be delayed in London while the authorities search through all the hand baggage, liquids, and the like, for security reasons. I’m grateful for a thwarted terrorist plot, and frankly, have to remind myself to try keep laughing.

Life’s little ironies. Seems as though the last few days have brought me back to that small brewpub in South Africa and Uncle Dave, who sat on his stool drinking his pint of Zulu Blonde, smoking a cigarette, and commenting to us the “ay-rone-ees” of life and love and humor. Cheers Dave, wherever you are.