Peacock feathers and writing dates 2

I’m a coffee shop-aholic. The blurb of my life could be: Will travel for good coffee.

Last year a Bindoon-based apiarist opened The Hive at Little Eeden, a restaurant/coffee shop. So, a weekend or two into 2021, I packed the family and a friend into two cars, and we took a Saturday drive out that way. I told the kids it would be a learning experience. (I homeschool my boys and everything is schoolwork as any homeschooling mum will tell you.)

When we arrived Arno, the owner, showed us around and we city slickers even held some fluffy curly feathered chicks.

Later, while waiting for our coffee to arrive, Arno, a big tall bloke with a big bushy beard that he lovingly strokes whenever he talks, handed me a bunch of peacock feathers. I’ve always had an affinity for peacock feathers. I marvelled at each feather’s unique colour and design. My friend quipped, “Happiness is often in the little things, isn’t it?”

For me, that is very true. When I allow myself to be in the moment, I find that I am quite calm and peaceful. You see, I can be a bit of a worrier and sometimes fret about the future. My fingernails will attest to that.

My mum and sister both survived a very nasty battle with Covid this year. They are in South Africa, and the distance felt even further during this time. While they were sick, I had a writing date with this same friend at our local Dome. I suddenly became so aware that if I were to lose them, I would be an orphan. You are never ready to be one; let me tell you. Both my friend and I cried – me fearing my potential loss and her mourning her mother, who passed away a few months ago in England. I felt so sorry for the poor waiters having to see this display of emotion. But we could not seem to stop the tears.

These two events, so shortly after the other made me realise two things. The first has been my mantra for a long time, yet 2020 sidetracked me – Show up on the page every day. Enjoy the small stuff. There is beauty in everything, even if it is collateral beauty.

The second is a quote by Max Lucado. He writes, ‘At the beginning of every act of faith, there is often a seed of fear. For great acts of faith are seldom born out of calm calculation.’ But what if, my act of faith for 2021 could be to stay calm? To do what I can, with what I have, in the moment I am in?