Sunday Afternoon

"In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2.55, when you know that you've had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul."


I thought of this quote from Life, the Universe and Everything a couple of weeks ago. It was another hot and listless afternoon at home on a Sunday afternoon and I finally decided I that there had to be more. A couple of years ago, Eric decided that we should not work on Sunday afternoons and that we ought to avoid shopping and other things that prevent us from resting on Sundays. It was actually a great idea because I do feel more rested, but sometimes it does feel a bit dull. As I mentioned above, a couple of weeks ago I started to feel that sitting around reading and sweating wasn't as restful as it could be. We decided that we'd try to go out and do restful outings after church more often. Last week we went to the night safari and walked around the lake and enjoyed a truly beautiful sunset over the mountains. This week we went to a lovely botanical gardens. The gardens seem lovingly cared for and besides an extensive waterway on which you can take a paddle boat or canoe and miles of shady walks there are lots of bushes shaped like animals. These monkeys were the oddest bushes I saw. They also have a hedge maze. Gabe is peeking through the branches on the other side of the wall in the maze. The highlight of the day was sitting in a sala (a small, covered pavilion) and watching the rain come down in sheets onto the little lake in front of us. I really love watching rain.