After one sits on a plane for 9 hours, then embarks upon an excursion in a major world city for a few more hours, then hops on a plane for another 12 or so hours – one needs to rest. One needs sleeping. One needs sitting on comfy furniture. One needs… a beach. On this day, GFVicki took us for a bit of noshing and then a bit of scenery. We took a wee drive along the coast and ended up walking on a beach. A lovely beach. A lovely white sand, blue water beach where just a couple weeks ago, or so, a man was eaten by a shark. Yes. The shark bumped the man up in the air, opened its mouth in anticipation of the delivery, then *SNAP* – six course meal in one fell swoop. Very tragic and sad, really. The man’s wife had just gone across the street to purchase something eventually to return to discover her husband had been killed by a shark. I can’t imagine that horror. But, life goes on…

Today the shark flag was flying – a flag displayed as a warning. Did people pay heed to the flag? Pfff. Were people swimming in the shark infested ocean? Hell ya, bra. I guess its the illusion of immoratality. I, for one, would not go a’swimming in the waters where a shark had just eaten someone. But’s that’s me. Being all shark cautious and practical and all. The scenery was wonderful…

There are those who watch for sharks…

There are those who taunt the sharks and those crazy people should be very careful…

We’re about to get a bite to eat in Simon’s Town. A little noshing and a little picture taking. In the meantime, here are a couple pics from the balcony. And wouldn’t you like that view as you do the dishes? Bottom pic is Suzanne and Stormy. Vicki is a dog rescuer. She’d adopt all dogs if she could. Stormy is a very lucky dog, she’s also a sweetheart.

We arrived in London on Saturday morning completely pooped out after an eight hour flight from Houston. Hi-ever, the motto ‘we’ll sleep when we’re dead’ spured us on. The reality ‘we’re old so we’re close to death’  occured to us as we walked around Covent Garden Market. As we were heading out on our way to the London Eye,  this dog dude beckoned. His dog head in a basket routine was much different than the usual silver coated minimalist mover thing.

We got to the London Eye, and just to show we don’t care about such things, the line was too long – we balked. The line really wasn’t that bad but standing at all, by that point, was a daunting challenge. A quick pic of the queen across from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment would simply have to do.

Seven hours later we were on the plane heading to Africa (!). Ten hours later, at the Cape Town airport, we were greeted at the airport by our wonderful friends Vicki and Suzanne. We are here. In South Africa. Their balcony view is wonderful. The weather is perfect.

We’re going somewhere. It’s a big trip. Our last big trip was the Alaskan cruise in 2008. We took almost two weeks off for that one. We’ll be back on the 21st. But never fear oh Gentle Woodland Folk of the Blogisphere, there will be blogging because we will be staying with friends who have an accessible computer. Besides, how cool will it be to blog from South Africa.

We will be staying with GFs Vicki and Suzanne who are living near Cape Town for the next couple years. They invited us to visit. Our motto is, ‘If you invite, we will visit.’ So, it’s best not to say, ‘oh, yeah, why don’t you come visit sometime,’ unless you really mean it. Because we will show up at your door. And then you’ll be stuck.

Vicki has filled us in on the baboon shenanigans around there. They open doors and window. They’ll take the backpack off your back and rummage for food. There is a ‘Baboon 911′ emergency line to call if you come home to find  baboons have decided to use your place for a dinner party.

Our first stop is London. We have a 10 hour layover. queenmaxine and eb do London in five hours. We’re thinking Covent Gardens and then the London Eye. And yes, there is a knitting shop that has been scoped out.

So we’re off. We get to SA on Sunday morning. Perhaps a report on Sunday night after a few adult beverages and sitting on the back porch overlooking the ocean.

The wonderful blog , Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, had a recent post with excerpts from the book Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children’s Book. Children’s books are like that, aren’t they – kind teachers with colorful pictures. At the end of the post the blog author, jules, asks, “What children’s book changed the way you saw the world?” Now that’s a fun thought.

The one  book I remember reading many times was The Story About Ping. I loved this book. My sister retains the prized original copy of it, complete with a coffee ring from my mom using it as a coaster one time.

What fascinated me about this tale was its setting – China. And on the Yangtze river. So many miles away in a totally different world. At the time, I knew zero Asian kids. None. How that is, I don’t know. You’d think I would have known at least one. But nope. Anything Asian was very exotic. I wanted to go to China. I wanted a duck named Ping.

The story itself is basically about the travails of trying to escape punishment. It’s a bit about the tangled webs we weave when we try to avoid the harsh truth of reality. As a result, Ping leaves the boat and his mom, has a bit of adventure, gets captured and, with the help of the boy who found him, escapes. As a kid, I thought Ping must have been happy to finally get whacked on the butt because it meant being back with his mom and family. And oh what a story he had to tell.