The things that dreams are made of! Family, Vespa's and WAB.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 at 2:34PM 
Yesterday was a national holiday in South Africa (Heritage day). It was a warm spring day, the kind that I have only ever experienced in Africa. It was about 30 degrees celcius, with a very slight breeze, and not a cloud in sight! A perfect day to take my 1968 Vespa VLB 150cc Sprint for a ride.
My daughter and I 'suited up' (which in our terms simply means shoes that can tie and long pants), and off we went to visit my wife's parents. They live on the shores of an expanse of water (not quite a lake. In South Africa English we call that is not quite the ocean, a 'dam') called the Hartebees Poort dam. It is about 50km's away from our home.
It was a wonderful ride. My little scooter did so well for a machine that was made in 1968 and already has 34 000 miles on the clock! We cruised at 50 miles/hour for most of the way. My wife Megan, who is now 5 months pregnant with our son 'BJ' Forster [BJ stands for 'Bliksem John' - the South African readers will understand this one.... see more at the end of this message], followed in her car and took the photos.
All in all it was a wonderful day, spending time with the family and not doing much else. I had some writing and marking to do. However, I left it for the day and rather woke up early this morning to catch up on my work. By the time our visit was over and it was time to come home, an ordinary day had become a memory that will sustain me for months to come.
I guess I had better add some theological reflection to this just to please the clergy. Over the years activities such as these have had various names. The scholastic monks called it otium sanctum, (Latin for "holy leisure"). When I was a student at University we called it WAB, (which is student speak (a vernacular all of its own!) for Work Avoidance Behavior)....
Who cares what it is called? It was great!
By the way. My son will NOT really be called BJ Forster! Could you imagine!? That would be an insurmountable handicap in South Africa! The joke started when our 7 year old daughter suggested that her brother should be named John at which my wife and I both packed up laughing. I thought, if he is going to be John, then why not go the whole hog? So, Bliksem John Forster it was! (If you still don't get it leave a comment - I'm sure someone from South Africa will tell you why it is funny). Anyway, his name will be Liam, and possibly he will bear his dad's second name - Angus (no NOT this Gus - MY second name is Angus!), this takes care of my mother's Irish heritage, and my father's Scottish heritage. Plus, it is SO much better than BJ Forster in the New South Africa!
Reader Comments (3)
I've always liked Bob
so you could go with Bob Jeremy...
It looks like that scooter is standing dead still in both photos...
and did you say 50miles/hour? sheesh I wouldn't go that fast that close to the ground...
In my profession we don't call it otium sanctum or WAB we just call it Youth Work
two wheels is always better. please tell this to our good friend Andre Buttner!
How about refreshing your blog? Courtney se boude is al seer gery! Wes