Saturday, October 01, 2011

Day 1 - Beach days and sun.......

Well. It appears I am taking part in the 31 Day Challenge. If you would like to join in, pop over to The Nester and see what it is all about. Loads of people have signed up and now it is time for my first post.

Memories.

These are the images which haunt our subconscious, colour our days and keep us warm on cold Autumn nights. Not that it is cold here in the UK on the first day of October. Oh no. Temperatures have broken all records. it is HOT people. HOT.

But I grew up in Africa, and believe me, it can get hot there. Very hot. When my children were young, we used to go to the beach at breakfast time - often with friends, and while the kiddies cavorted around the beach, we would cook bacon and eggs on a portable gas BBQ called a skottelbraai. It had a big wok-like attachment, and you could cook anything. In fact, the Mums used to have a good laugh, because somehow men, unable or unwilling to cook breakfast in a kitchen, suddenly became master chefs when in front of fire.
Skottelbraai - image courtesy of Google images
It is a male thing - fire. Cooking. Standing around chatting while poking the meat. But I remember those gorgeous African mornings - the skies are indescribable, you know. Just so different,. And, ironically, one of the favourite beaches we went to was Fish Hoek. The same beach where that really stupid man was attacked by a great white shark last week. (He ignored the shark warnings)
Fish Hoek - image courtesy of Google Images
 Fish Hoek is a perfect beach to take children, you see. It is relatively shallow, and the waves are not enormous. Cape Town is at the bottom of Africa, and the 2 oceans meet at Cape Point. The Atlantic is the cold ocean, and the Indian, the warmer one. The huge waves are on the western side (the Atlantic).
Fish Hoek beach - image courtesy of Google Images
The children had boogie boards and a paddleski and they were in their element. Thankfully, back in the 1980s, the in thing was to wear wet-suits on the beach, instead of skimpy bathing costumes, and because my 3 were all very fair (the red hair) this meant they could be out there in the early morning. That takes me back to the beginning - the heat. The reason we all went to the beach for breakfast or for supper, was to keep out of the sun. I must say, the southern hemisphere, with the Australia "slip, slap, slop" campaign too, is very careful about the gaping hole in the ozone layer overhead. Sun awareness is excellent - and was back then too.
Boogie Board - image courtesy of Google images
They made a sun cream like a glue stick too, and the kids all had them in their pencil cases and before they went out to lunch break, they all swiped the sunscreen over their faces. great training. The boogie boards, by the way, had to be the "right " ones - labels were BIG in the preteen set, believe me! Just like the skateboards.

My mother, who is 85 now, spent every one of her summer holidays in Fish Hoek down on the beach. My grandparents rented a house on the beach for 6 weeks every year and Mum and her brother and cousins had the most wonderful summers. But those are more memories for another day......

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to reading more of your memories!

Although I'm not taking part in your challenge, I'm having a "mini" one of my own during October. At least one thing per day either decluttered or found a proper place for. That way, I'm hoping to have this place tiday in time for Christmas!!

Vee said...

I was here earlier and left the most splendid comment, which I cannot now remember, and then it was lost in the blogosphere. It was something about how your memories, being so different from my own, are wonderfully interesting.

Edith said...

Your memories are fascinating and trigger some of mine. I will have to write later...but probably won't manage 31 days. Love the fact that sunscreen was so in use then.

Midlife Mom said...

I love reading about other peoples memories. Do you have to do memories for 31 days? I have been so negligent about blogging lately I would probably only get to maybe #3!

That grill thingy is amazing! Yes, men do have to be poking and turning meat on a grill to make them feel like they actually killed the beast themselves and brought it home on their shoulder! ha! They can't help it, it's just born in them! :o) The men around here love to hunt, well not all of them, but many. The talk over Thanksgiving dinner which is the last day of hunting season is always tales of the hunt. Gag! Not allowed at my table! Thankfully Son and Hubs don't hunt.

Yes we love our new sunroom. We have already used it so much and I know will continue to do so. The cats love the radiant heat floor, it must feel nice of their paws when they come inside out of the cold. I'm still in the process of decorating and the gas heater isn't hooked up yet but that will be this coming week.

Well the Hubs is waiting on me to go to church so I will say goodbye!