paradoxicalsentiments:

do people generally go out on friday nights? is that a thing that happens sometimes?

the biscuit mill. every saturday.

can’t wait to return to that bustling world of wonder!

never in my life have I seen such fat squirrels

emily skipped school today, and that made yesterday evening and today very worthwhile for me.

last night, emily picked me up, and we crammed kate and sarah in there too, and off we drove to our favorite sushi restaurant right near where we live. it’s good to have my friends living just up the road.

we ordered a sushi plater (of course, I ate most of the ginger), and then mounds and mounds of food to follow, with egg fried rice on the side. it was absolutely delicious. only once we’d eaten to our heart’s content did we finally get in the car, pay the car guard, and leave the beach parking lot. although I didn’t see it, I know that the moon was being reflected on the water.

emily’s mom had invited a bunch of other moms over for a “ladies night” dinner. my mom was one of those ladies. lynne quite happily poured emily and me a glass of rosé, and then we headed upstairs to the top floor study area, right underneath the thatched roof ceiling. although we’d intended to watch a movie upstairs, when kendal showed up, we just started having a major gossip sesh/catch up, so the movie was abandoned. meanwhile, the mothers were just finishing dinner, and the plan was for kendal and me to drive our mothers home. luckily for us, one of my dad’s five leftover birthday cakes (no joke…somehow, throughout the day, he collected five) was set on the table as a dessert, along with a lemon meringue pie, lynne’s home made creme brûlées, and a big bowl of strawberries. so, of course, we all swooped in. I started with the lemon meringue pie, and then decided chocolate cake was necessary, too.

no guilt at ALL considering I’ve been taking my running kind of seriously lately. my three medals from the 10, 15, and half marathon are hanging on my wall, and, sad as it may seem, they’re my main source of inspiration for the time being.

after that evening (and a horrendous saga in which kendal and I literally had to coax our mothers out the door so we could get out of the driveway, since we’d both blocked in everyone else), falling asleep was no problem.

good thing, too, because this morning I was up much brighter and much earlier than I ever thought I would be on holiday, because emily and I had planned to go into town and visit the district 6 and holocaust museums. she showed up at my gate with the rest of my dad’s cake (…as if we needed more cake in this house).

so, we set off on the road, the sun in our eyes, the sea sparkling as we drove over the mountain, and we played the not-so-well-chosen songs of kfm 94.5. I went to the holocaust museum with my school when I was younger, and I’m actually quite impressed with how much I remembered about it. granted, visits to holocaust museums have been some of the more emotional periods of my life, so they do somehow seem quite vivid in my memory. except this time, I paid a little more attention to the words than just the pictures, listening to some of the voice recordings of holocaust survivors who told stories about what they’d seen and experienced. you always come out a little bit shaken.

but feelings have a way of getting lost in summery air, which is how it felt in town today, despite the fact that we’re supposed to be entering winter. next up was the district 6 museum, where we searched for last names we knew in the book of people who lived there and then marveled at the most adorable replica of a 60s-style hair salon and some serious American tourists - patches on their backpacks and pins on their hats and everything - (oh, what I pay attention to at museums).

we rounded off our trip to town with a walk through the company gardens. I remember going there when I was really little, because my dad works in town, and whenever I joined him, the company gardens was something to do. I remember carrying paper bags of nuts to feed the squirrels…

…speaking of the squirrels. never in my life have I seen such fat squirrels. emily and I were marveling at their fatness for a good twenty minutes. they are HUGE. squirrel obesity is evidently a problem in the company gardens. it’s actually fascinating.

but we decided we’d better come back for a picnic, at least to feed the already fat squirrels (and pigeons), especially since we made friends with an albino squirrel, pointed out to us by a friendly security guard.

I just want to get enough nuts that all the squirrels swarm around you, like what emily told me happened to josh. apparently josh sat there with his arms open talking about how he’s a squirrel whisperer…except, I’m pretty sure the squirrels swarm around anyone who has nuts.

…

back in the car and back to emily’s house we rushed, because emily did need to get to school for the last period of the day (south african history with the legendary chief), tout simplement so that she could play in the final soccer match of the season. while emily was getting changed into her uniform upstairs, I heated up last night’s leftover curry in her kitchen, which we wolfed down in no time. we also cut two slices of lemon meringue pie and put it in a container for the car drive to school.

it’s always kind of strange going back to school. I mean, this wasn’t just my high school - it was my school since the fourth grade. but nonetheless, it has a high school feel to it - memory sticks, lockers, couples…it’s like its own little world. it was good to see my friends, with new haircuts and senior shirts - like ralph and evan and matthias and dakota. then we all headed over to the soccer field to watch the girls’ team play cedar house. while everyone was getting dressed into those hideous yellow knee-socks I also once wore, I chatted to hanna and naomi, kate, ashley, and everyone. there were a few faces I don’t know, and that was kind of strange too…seeing people I don’t know at my school. new people come and go every year, but I’ve always been the one that’s here…

also, I forgot how much I miss soccer.

mr. wilson laughed at me when I told him that.

but we won 3-0, and I took action shots, and then rowan’s mom gave me a ride to the gym…and rowan and her mom are very entertaining people, so it was very enjoyable.

and then I was back home, eating squash and curry and salad for dinner with my family and my grandma who is here till saturday, the fire crackling beside the dining room table.

all in a day.