Everyone needs a break sometimes

Every time I manage to take a break somewhere out of town, the same thought occurs to me: Why don’t I do this more often? But I know the answer – it’s because I always imagine it’s going to cost me lots of money and time that I don’t have. Yet that is not necessarily true.

A recent trip to the foothills of Mt Kenya with our youngest and an old friend reminded me how necessary it is to break the monotony of everyday life; otherwise making it to the end of the year in one piece becomes more challenging as the months roll by. For one, it makes the hustle and bustle of city living a little more bearable. Just two days without constantly trying to race against the clock made such a difference – it was like taking a refreshing shower after a whole day out in the sun.

It was certainly different to wake up in the morning because there was no more sleep to be slept instead of fighting with the snooze button on the alarm clock as is the norm. And once awake, it was wonderful to find our host offering an array of simple breakfast options – fresh eggs fried with onions straight from the farm, hot tea made with fresh milk, re-heated leftovers from supper the night before…

I say options but actually we ate everything that was on offer because that’s what you do when you’re on a break – you break the rules. And breakfast was actually brunch that was eaten at a slow and leisurely pace because… there was nowhere to go! We had no traffic to beat, no meetings to attend, no coffee date promises to fulfil, no school, no emails to respond to (which would have been quite a stretch anyway considering there was no internet).

All we had was free time and a very peaceful environment, which is why after eating I went outside with a chair and a book – something I have not done in a long time. The pages and hours passed as lazily as I was feeling, and it was the evening chill that eventually told me what time it was and sent me back inside the house. As we headed back home the next afternoon, driving slowly and with several stops on the way because we had decided there was no rush to get back to ‘reality’, my friend and I pledged that we really should get away more often. With a little creativity and lots of intention, I don’t see why not.

Mosquitos gone

Meanwhile, the rain is here! Apart from obvious reasons, I am especially glad that the mosquitoes, which have been the bane of my existence for months, have disappeared. I am surprised at how sadistic I have become where the annoying little insects are concerned, literally hunting them down even when they are not pestering me.

Armed with my mosquito racket in one hand and a can of insecticide in the other, I will not rest until I know the ones in my space are dead. Sometimes this has cost me muscle sprains as I employ acrobatics – much to our young ones’ alarm – to reach the ones that seem to think they can get away from me.

And I am not alone. My friend was telling me the other day that the mosquito menace had reached such serious levels that her brother and his friends had resorted to carrying their rackets to the bar whenever they were going to watch football games! Hopefully it will be many months before we have to contend with them again, by which time I am sure the Chinese will have come up with other highly innovative means by which to exterminate them.