Jumping Jack Flash
Last weekend after 3 days of rain I started getting ‘cabin fever’ as it was too wet for the beach and the Kabeljauws River was a reddish brown color and looking like the Ganges in flood.
Then one of my buyers rang and asked me to find out more about a farm for sale in the Somerset East district.
‘Oh good’ my wife said, ‘its half term and we can see the children’ and so an hour or so later we headed off to visit our family on their farm in the platteland.
The farm was brilliant, after 4 inches of rain even the beefmaster cattle were fed up, but the dams were full and Andries was smiling. So were the grandchildren, as grandparents need reminding in the weeks leading up to Christmas?
The next morning Sally and Megan were going to gym (I don`t know why they don`t just run around the farm) and so we were asked to take Jack to ‘monkeynastics’ which is an exercise class for little people.
The classes are held in an old drill hall in Paulet Street, Somerset East in what the Historical Society would call a Heritage site. And, the gym equipment looked suspiciously like the apparatus used by the Smuts Commando in the Boer War as it was at least 100 years old.
The teacher was on crutches and to make matters worse none of the children fully understood English or Afrikaans and seemed to communicate with one another like primates.
We had our camera with us and proudly started snapping away as Jack went through his warm up exercises vaguely obeying the orders from the drill instructor, every now and then breaking rank to come and tell us how much he appreciated us been there As I already mentioned, Christmas is around the corner.
Star jump
Then the Boer War equipment was dragged out and the children were asked to run across the hall and with both feet firmly on the springboard to bounce onto the box and off in star jump onto the mat.
Now , we are not sure what planet Jack was on when Miss was explaining star jump, because when his turn came he decided to do his own thing and managed a one and a half somersault, just not quit landing on his feet!
Then grinning from ear to ear he made his way to the back of the queue to make ready for his repeat performance. His teacher realizing that he was going to do his own thing, just told him to keep his arms straight and his chin tucked in, which he did, and let him perform.
The teacher deserved full marks for her decision. His next attempt was even better and with coaching, he could become a star.
Now if we could only get him to listen!