Curran Christmas Missive 2019
To borrow a high school rowing analogy. In a rowing race, over anything longer than 500m, the race is made up of a brief beginning, long middle portion finishing with a big push. The beginning is characterized by furious, short strokes to get up to speed. The middle of the race is the largest portion and requires longer, purposeful strokes. Surviving the middle requires attention to form and efficiency, ideally leaving yourself some gas for the final push.
In retrospect 2019 feels like we have moved into the middle portion of the race. We have been in Cape Town for two years, with both children now walking and talking. Gratefully, our days and weeks have settled into a healthy rhythm. The year has brought some surprises but we have emerged in good shape.
The other night Cath noted that we are quite a slick unit. She returning from putting both kids to bed, to a clean kitchen and her husband putting the final touches on dinner, just after 7pm. We are hella’ strict about schedules, but our undisturbed, extended evenings are worth it.
Rog & Cath
The fun started about 10 days into my 2019 work year when I received news that our organisation was restructuring the global staff team and a number of my responsibilities were being shifted to North America. Come September, the ramifications of this played out when I transitioned to a part time role with Advance and picked up some hours with one of our partner churches, Jubilee. Despite the turbulence of a job change I am enjoying my adjusted set of responsibilities across both organisations and have managed to maintain great flexibility in my schedule which serves family time well.
A work highlight of the year was our Advance Global conference. I headed up the team that hosted a couple of hundred people from around the world for a week in Cape Town.
Cath has so many jobs I have lost count — acting as gas-mask-for-hire; anesthetizing adults and babies all over Cape Town. Since we arrived she has been angling for a job at South Africa’s premier paediatric center, Red Cross Children’s Hospital. Two years in, she has completed a rotation and secured a permanent sessional post there, an opportunity she is extremely grateful for. She has joined a great book club and is starting to think about new hobbies as the early intensity of parenting yields a little.
Boys
The boys are a both rocketing along — be it learning to walk, sing, swim or dance. The weight of parenting responsibility can be terrifying in moments. At other times we just cruise.
Jack brings us to hysterics with his hyper-analytical approach to life. He is increasingly interested in reading, now identifying words and characters everywhere. A few weeks ago he pointed to a dry bird poo that had slid down his car window before affixing itself and shouted ‘Exclamation mark Dad!’. He’s an introvert, but we’re learning to give him space and generally trust his judgement.
Will has taken us by surprise, walking and talking many months ahead of his brother’s developmental milestones at a similar age. He is very cute and charms everyone we pass on regular neighbourhood strolls. He has taken to throwing stuff behind the couch and then blank-faced directing the nearest adult to ‘Get it’.
Despite these cognitive developments, the pock-marked legs in the photo above tell the real story — they would ideally spend all of their time outside. These two are often found clawing at the door before we release them at 8am every morning.
Injuries are part of the daily rhythm. Will, inevitably finding himself in risky situations in his attempts to match his brother has fallen off slides, step ladders and beds. Jack saves his biggest wipeouts for his balance bike, most recently riding straight into a lightpole in Langebaan.
Other news
The Western Cape is choked with beautiful small towns and weekend outing options. We spent a slow week just outside Stanford on a farm in the company of a motley crew of tame farm animals. I got an opportunity to visit London for a week and tacked on a bit of sightseeing after. We also joined friends for a weekend in dramatic Scarborough. Jack and I visited cousin Megan in PE and we just got back from a windy weekend in Langebaan on the West Coast.
In April we headed to the Eastern Cape for a great family catch up in Kenton-on-sea for cousin Patrick’s wedding and a visit to friends in East London.
New building projects have become a fixture, following the trail blazed by Cath’s folks, Graham and Marilyn. In addition to a fistful of maintenance jobs we also knocked down a wall to open plan our living space and extended the garage to make room for what will hopefully become a very productive workshop!
The boys have spent another year spoilt with easy access to their grandparents. Most evenings find us congregating in the garden or enjoying walks to local Keurboom Park.
We are heading into a couple of weeks holiday now, eagerly anticipating the arrival of cousin Megan and her parents for a week over Christmas.
In the midst of South Africa’s turmoil, a degree of mutual career flux and the churn of parenting responsibilities we are carving out a good season in Cape Town.
