Easing back into things

A quietness settled over Kommetjie today. There was no sound (at least not down our way) of traffic, parties, braais, or general merriment and festivity. In fact the entire Christmas season has been like that. Lovely. But today was particularly peaceful. The wind that blew up the Fish Hoek valley gave us a miss, but brought cooler air to soothe us after a few hot days, and even the garden seemed to recover slightly. Visitors have departed for home and the verges are no longer parking lots. Sanity prevails again, and it is almost as though a kind of peace has settled on the world, with people relaxing quietly at home rather than taking to the roads and public places for entertainment. Everyone reports having had a less frantic festive season and finding it one of the best ever.
This will no doubt change tomorrow, as many return to work and the taxis hit the road again, bringing general chaos and road rage back to the streets. The trip from Kommetjie to Sun Valley will once again become tedious and stressful - unless law enforcement steps in and does its job; one can only live in hope.
I suspect that the general quietness today is due to all the schoolchildren being occupied with finding last year's school shoes and bits of uniform, covering books and looking for lunch boxes and juice bottles, and wondering why the holiday was so short this year! Mothers are dreading the school run and grannies and grandpas are gearing up for afternoon childminding duties. The happiest day of my life was the day my last child finished school - I just couldn't do that any more!
This week we will all be easing back into the working year in our own ways, and I for one am really looking forward to it.