Monday, December 1, 2014

Appreciation for life...Sunsets, Silhouettes and the 'rare' Samango Monkey...

My boyfriend is part of a golfer's league, a gentlemen's club as such with men of all ages ranging from around 24 to 84. A few weeks back I went to one of their prize-givings and was once again drawn into an ambit of fascination by how vastly important heritage and tradition is considered to be here in Zimbabwe. Culture is definitely something which is installed among individuals from a young age and as such, boys grow up to be true gentlemen. I am so impressed by the manner in which Zimbabwean guys treat ladies. It’s a rare thing to stumble upon, especially when you come from a place where the men seem to worry more about their appearance and the size of their ‘guns’ than they do in treating a woman with a vague amount of respect. Of course I am generalising here, and of course there are still the odd gems you meet who place you up on a pedestal, and of course you still get your classically arrogant and egotistical men here in Zim as well. In general however, it is truly refreshing to meet a great group of gentlemen who hold high their traditions, their loyalty to their clubs and each other and the love and devotion to their ladies and families. 

So where am I going with this? Well a few months back, my boyfriend won a weekend away for two in a raffle held at one of these golfer’s prize-givings. We therefore decided to use that this last weekend and on the Saturday morning we headed up to Nyanga for a nice relaxing break. We stayed in a rather commercial and somewhat kitsch hotel, which to be fair, is presently being done up and revamped. Not complaining though – a free weekend stay, in one of the most breath-taking areas I have ever been to, including a delicious breakfast daily is always welcomed! The drive there was interesting. In fact not five minutes in - once we had grabbed our Mochacinos from an awesome barrister named Peter at a hardware store – yes a hardware store with a coffee shop(?) - we passed a dead cow on the side of the road, which I of course did not see and begged my boyfriend to turn around so I could have a look. He assured me we would see plenty more and hence, disappointingly did not turn back, much to my discontent. By no means do I have an affinity for dead animals, but I do find it fascinating how road-kill that large can just be left on the side of the road, especially with all the little townships we were passing. Surely this could be someone’s next meal or rather month of meals? Anyway, I soon forgot about our first road-kill casualty and settled down to enjoy the trip.

Eventually the flat farmlands started transforming into stunning mountains which were so mesmerising it was almost like we were driving towards massive photo-shopped pictures. It reminded me so much of the Drakensburg in South Africa, except there is always something unique about anything and everything here in Zim and these mountains were covered from bottom to top in the Msasa tree. This particular tree has leaves which come in different colours, from green to orange to deep red. As you can imagine – thousands of these blanketing a mountain range, would literally take your breath away.

We never passed another dead cow, nor a dead anything – which in a way I was ok with as I am not the type who likes seeing that an animal has been injured or killed. Also, who needed road-kill when you had the view of a thousand rolling hills, with the back-drop of a milky pink and fiery orange sky? Appreciation comes in many forms, however I cannot describe how much appreciation you actually feel when you look at something of such pure beauty. Perhaps it was my pops who installed a deep gratitude in me for the perfect sunset with all the photos he used to and still takes. I tried to capture the sunsets we saw on this trip but no camera would ever be able to portray what we actually experienced. Being the yoga teacher I now am, I insisted on my boyfriend taking some pics of me in different postures to see if we could somehow trick the sunset into thinking we were literally just taking silhouette photos of me, but alas – it knew what we were doing and still did not want to surrender its splendor to being captured on film. I guess that’s why we have memories, and that’s what teaches us to appreciate the moment that much more.

We experienced a lot that weekend.  Horse-riding through these mountains; wining and dining at a beautiful, quaint inn where we were treated like royalty; playing bowls (yes bowls) in front of a mirror-like dam which reflected deep dark green pine trees in the background – again something you couldn't quite believe was really in front of you and not a blown-up postcard. We met an artist named 'Modern' who made the most charming sculptures out of marble rock, and whose genuine and friendly welcome made us want to buy everything, but alas we settled for a cool elephant statue which now takes residence in our hallway. We saw what they termed the “rare Samango Monkey” ironically all over the place, a rather arrogant type of primate which never seemed to want to allow me to get a decent pic of its face, which happened to be absolutely adorable. Instead, every time I clicked the button on my camera I got a picture of the back of this monkey’s head or torso (which was also rather cute but not as charming as its koala-type face.)

I cannot pinpoint the highlight of this mini getaway because it was all so breathtaking and rather humbling to say the least. I can say that the trip home was one where we hardly spoke to each other and it felt like that same feeling you got as a kid when you realised it was Boxing Day and Christmas was now a whole year away. We did however both feel like we had been on vacation for a week, utterly relaxed and ready to start a new week.

You learn a lot about yourself, your partner and your relationship on a little trip like this one. Enjoying literally only each other’s company with no other distractions or commercial things to occupy your time really brings you down to earth and draws you a lot closer together. Who would have thought that we would enjoy bowls at our age? That sipping on Irish Coffees, in the attic of an old-fashioned inn, with no tv, no books and nothing other than the company you keep, would take your relationship to another level. Appreciation for the small things…you hear people talk about it all the time, but often take it for granted and sometimes need a little reminder to bring you back to earth. This weekend was that for both of us – a gentle push to appreciate what you have, what you get given and what you experience.

As a result of this weekend, I based my yoga classes the following week around this concept of gratitude and thankfulness. I started something on Facebook for myself called ‘#MonthOfGratitude’ where every single day I acknowledge something in my life for which I am grateful. I started this on the 25th November so that by the time Christmas Day comes around, I will have a month’s worth of random things in my life which I appreciate. I encouraged my friends and my followers to do the same but unfortunately this isn't something which catches on like a Neknomination or simply sharing a horrific picture of a slaughtered animal or a story of a maid abusing a baby.

It’s sometimes scary what people focus on in their lives. I encourage you to think about this in your own life. Try focusing on the positive and the unique little things which you are eternally grateful for. Whether it's the gentlemanly actions from someone you least expect, a sunset which steals your breath faster than you have time to realise, or even just sharing in some fun with your best friend, on a patch of grass made for old people to chuck around a few balls. If you can do this for even 3 days, you are blessed. 

What have you got to lose? More importantly, what have you got to gain..?

In love, light and appreciation for all my readers, till next time.

Denise

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