Take a pause

A few days before we went away to Jeffrey’s Bay for two nights, I foolishly looked at the weather forecast and squalls of very heavy rain was predicted. That night I couldn’t sleep and I had a nightmare about driving through the rain, fear paralyzing me. You see we had just had a terrible accident in our town when it was raining and visibility was low. A beautiful little girl who I know had to be airlifted to the children’s hospital in critical condition. The trauma of it made me really afraid of being on the road when there’s heavy rain and mist.

The morning we left the sun was shining but there were still ominous looking clouds around, but something in me seemed to reset as we hit the road. The darkness didn’t seem as bleak or as foreboding as I had imagined.
We stopped for a short break and a delicious muffin at Storms river cafe. The rest of the way was plain sailing as we flew past some wind turbines as they spun gently in the breeze.
The last stretch was easy and we landed happily at Mojo’s beach pad, a lovely place right across from the beach. The first thing we did was to take a late afternoon walk onto the beach before the rain came..
In the distance over the sea there was a rainbow and it felt like a personal message just for me. I know the bible says somewhere that a rainbow is a promise that God will never flood the earth again. However, we have experienced terrible floods in many corners of the earth, perhaps not the whole earth but tell that to someone who has nearly drowned in a tsunami.
I prefer to see a rainbow as a message from the other side like the native Americans do; they believe that rainbows connect the earthly and the divine realms like a bridge between the two worlds. I also felt that it was a sign from my guardian angels, offering comfort and reassurance after experiencing some terror a few nights previously.
The Tibetan Buddhists believe the Rainbow symbolizes spiritual ascension and the attainment of enlightenment. To me it felt like evidence from my Steve, reassuring me that he is always with us watching over us, it made my heart glad and set a precedent for the next few days.
Well if that wasn’t enough we got another rainbow the next day, like a double delight.

When we got home I realized that our short two night interlude had given me pause. I didn’t watch the news, I didn’t think of the foreboding, I just walked in the rain, picked up shells on the beach, went to the shell museum, drank my favourite coffee, took silly pictures, braaied, talked until we were tired, watched the sunrise at 6am, gabbed with my sons, while Wihan knitted socks and Rev checked out the news, ate tasty burgers at the Spur and generally had a great time together. It also allowed my brain to stay in neutral for a while. It’s highly recommended!
I’m still feeling the joy of it all with my little collection of shells and sweeties from the Spur..