Pecan Nuts and Thunderstorms

Yes there are a few things about Texas that are making feel at home... not much like home in Oregon but a few things are resonating with my home in South Africa. The part of me that is constantly seeking that connection, whether it be through Cadbury's chocolate, Marmite, Rooibos tea.... or the thrill of a THUNDERSTORM.... feels quite satisfied today.

Yesterday I met my first friend here in Texas. I know only her name, "Tina" and that she has two little girls and a dog. She moved to our area in August last year and we met up at the park a few blocks away. I have her number and email address. She has always lived in Texas, in Allen for over 10 years. She described the weather here as "mild". Funny thing ... every time we move (and you know we DO move) we leave many people shocked that we would choose to go where we are going. Moving up to Oregon for example, people in Yuma and along the way told us how claustrophobic they felt in Oregon because there were so many trees. And how humorous it was that Oregonians washed their cars when it was raining outside (because it rains all the time!). Moving here we are terrified of the Summers. In Yuma we were assured that 120 degrees F there was much more "pleasant" than 90 degrees with humidity. In a few months I'll let you know :(

Instead of dreading the Summer, however, I am going to try to focus on the fact I am really enjoying the weather RIGHT NOW in FEBRUARY! There is a warm wind howling outside - I am anticipating another thunderstorm. One like we had at 430am. I lay in bed counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder - just like I used to growing up in JHB.

This morning I took the girls and Liam to the Heard Museum in Mckinney. Tina told me she had taken her girls last week. They currently have an outside Dinosaur exhibit. Julia was scared at first ... the "life size " models moved a little and made scary dinosaur noises as we walked along the trail. It was great... but even better was our discovery as we took a break sitting on a bench next to the Brachiosaurus. Things started falling from the tree above us and I could hardly contain myself as I realised they were PECANS. I love nuts, always have. Kurt's folks have a Pecan nut tree in their garden back in Jhb, and his mom always used to send me/ us home with a bag. I would sit for hours cracking the nuts against each other and eating them. I told Kurt it was therapeutic! There is something very rewarding about eating something you have worked so hard for.

As our stuff has not arrived from Oregon yet, I did not have the stroller (pram) with me so I was carrying Liam (who was about as grumpy as Liam gets as he was being constantly disturbed from his attempts to sleep). So I encouraged Mila to collect the nuts by telling her how excited her papa was going to be to have Pecan nuts. I also gave her and Julia a taste to prove that collecting them was really worthwhile (cracking pecan nuts while holding a baby is not the easiest thing to do!). Finally I bribed them (wanting a few more) saying if they picked what they could for another 5 minutes I would give them sweet necklaces in the car on the way home! Julia diligently held open a plastic bag I had in the nappy/diaper bag and follwed Mila around so she could fill it with nuts.

Mila just emerged from her "quiet play time" and is itching to dump 1000 words on me that she has collected in her thoughts! I cannot wait till she can write ... I think she will be an excellent journal keeper!