Another weekend gone

The problems you have when you marry a politically aware man......

We fell asleep last night discussing world politics and the tyranny of the West. What brought it up was watching 'Beyond Borders' on telly;a movie with Anjelina Jolie & Clive Owen in the lead. The movie is set in the world's 'hot's spots - from the deserts of Africa, to Cambodia, to Croatia. Jolie's character falls in love with a renegade doctor who flits from country to country administering to people in need. The chemistry between the two leads isn't palpable, but the images of the dying and destitute leave an indelible imprint on your mind. And this is what perhaps lead to our late night discussion...Fortunately today was Sunday and we could afford to steal a few extra hours, so I've forgiven Mr.R for keeping me awake with talk of politics.

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Mr.R took a break from his studying for exams by taking to the water. We are lucky to have a huge park in the middle of town with a little man-made water body that houses swans and ducks. In summer they rent out rowboats and that's what we did - took a boat out for half an hour and followed the wake of the swans and ducks as they swam out of our way. Mr.R insisted on doing all the hard work, while I did the navigation. Avoiding the ducklings that swam dangerously close to the oars was a task in itself, but nature provided them with an instinct to 'duck' (pun not intended!) under the boat/oars when danger presented itself. On one occasion, Mama Duck abandoned her three fledglings and hopped onto the bank while the babies hovered in terror in one corner praying hard that the boats gave them a wide berth. Once at a safe distance, Mama hopped back into the water, and the poor abandoned ducklings swam to her for reassurance. Quite selfish, I thought!!

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Something struck me at church this morning. No, it wasn't lightning! I realised that not many people wear red here. Even in the height of summer, the warm tones of scarlet are limited to manicured nails. One sees a lot of whites, browns and beige. The visible colors are pink, a lot of it and in every shade and then there are the blues and yes, the omnipresent black. Now that's a color for every season here. But no red. Wonder why.

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I can finally understand the English obsession for all things weather related. The past weekend has been gloriously sunny and one can tell the difference in seasons. The weekend though has been overcast, gloomy and wet. Thundershowers with abundant lightning all over the country has made the heatwave (33 deg C last Sunday!!) a distant warm memory. It's crazy how the weather changes by the hour. Right now the sun is out, like the grey clouds hovering around this morning were there just by accident. By evening, the sunshine might be a distant dream, but you can never tell. As Mr.R never tires of telling me, the only way to enjoy life here is not to let the weather affect your plans. If you let the wind, cold or rain decide for you, then you're likely to spend your life indoors waiting for the sun to show up. Wise man, that Mr.R. I should listen to him more often :)