The New Year

January 3, 2010

A view from the 'deek.'

One Down and Two to Go!

My German great-grandmother spent her days in the basement kitchen of her son-in-law's home raising the youngest three of her daughter's children. Her daughter, my grandmother, had died of cancer at age of forty-eight, at that time an unspeakable disease.

Gram, a stern sort, all of 4'10", lived a simple life, cooking, ironing and riding herd over her grandchildren. She seemed to talk little. I remember her as a no fuss woman with only a few adages that she lived by. One of them was, "Bad things come in threes." Well, if Gram's adages are true, Kamini only has two more to go.

Friday, New Year's Day here, was blustery, so we decided to take a ride through the forest to Cook's Straight, a beautiful tributary to the Pacific Ocean. Of we went in Bubbles, D & d's silver blue van, with the dogs in tow to pick up Ekta and head towards a lovely beach nearly an hour away.

Driving up, down and around hillsides and hilltops, curling round the greenbelt that surrounds Newtown, we finally we reached our destination at about 4-30 in the afternoon. And it was lovely! The beach, rock strewn, extended about 100 yards before us. Then the blue/green water interrupted the view. We headed towards it, the strong winds at our back.

As usual, David, Dineli and Ekta had about a thirty foot lead over Kamini and me as we struggled forward - the white caps, lovelier than any I've ever seen, beckoning us. Slowly we picked our way over the rocks, the wind at our backs. Then Kaminio, who had been at my side, was suddenly rushing, running past me, her feet in constant motion in a futile attempt to ground herself. I reached out to catch her, and she was beyond my grasp. Her motion was faster than I could walk, and I knew that to run would place me in the same predicament. Hoping that the back winds would carry my voice, I shouted to the others, but my calls went unheard. Then within minutes that passed in slow motion, she fell forward onto the rocks, hitting hard her knees, chest, face, nose, and forehead. By the time we all reached her - she was easily twenty-five feet ahead of me - blood was pulsating from her mouth; I was sure her teeth were broken. Large 'eggs' began to show on her forehead, face and nose; her chest was tight with pain. And she was stunned - as we all were.

We 'spectators' felt that she should be seen in the ER immediately, but Kamini, a medical doctor, refused saying in her British English, "It will be alright." Then she put her hand and felt the rising lumps near her frontal lobe and she agreed.

Within an hour, at 6:00 p.m., we were situated in the Wellington Hospital ER. There Kamini was examined and exrayed and the news was good: nothing was broken, she would just be sore for a few days. And her teeth were intact. The bad news was that we'd have to wait until the following day for the special Sri Lankaan New Year's Day dinner that she and Dinli had planned to prepare. Instead, we gathered about the table at about 10:30 that night for a delicious pasta and salmon dish that Dineli quickly prepared - and a prayer of thanks for Kamini's good fortune!

Now I need to close. Though I promised to 'discuss' Central Park, I need to shut down; the winds are so great that I'm fading in and out of connection.

Till the next time -

B