Chapter 29 : I am not Batman

I am watching TV and finding it fascinating.  The show is about a group of people with cancer. The people were given both chemotherapy and an exercise routine. Most of the time they went straight from the chemotherapy ward to the gym. And it worked. The regime resulted in good outcomes. Better remissions, less side-effects and longer lives. It was all positives. I am watching this and thinking of only one thing. My recent experience in hospital. I was always going to the gym. Riding on the exercise bike, running on the machine. I was fanatical. Did this help me? Would it help other people? 

In the last week I have been busy.  Busy putting up blogs.  I am now responsible for four blogs. This is either too many or just enough. If everybody on the net had four blogs would the world be a better or worse place? You can make your own opinion on that or any of the blogs. The blogs are up there in the clouds.

Next morning before eight o’clock the silence is loud and powerful.  When it is this quiet I know it will not last. It will be replaced by noise. The noise of my grandchildren. The excited noise they make in the street which tells us that they are coming. They burst through the front door and the house changes. They are in control. Running, talking, playing and smiling. And pretending to fly. Bryce is running around with his arms outstretched talking about a helicopter.

Bradley is making his lunch which involves choices. I tell him what he should have. I don’t know his attitude. He may take my advice or not.  I turn on the coffee machine and grind some coffee. I am now officially better. No, not because I drink coffee. I am better because I can make coffee. I can use the coffee machine and make a passable cup of coffee. And I think it tastes better than bought coffee. My conclusion that it taste better is based on bias and not on scientific rigor.

There is a knock on the front door. It is time for a parcel. Again. A phone starts ringing. Which phone is it? I have no idea. It seems to be coming from the lounge room. If I check these phones I might find which phone is ringing and who is ringing. Lorna knows which phone to look at. She approves of the person ringing. She answers the phone. Meanwhile my grandchildren have ignored the phone and are watching TV.

Bryce is pretending to be superman. He and his sister are confident, happy and unconcerned about anything they cannot see. They are also unconcerned about anything that is not happening at the moment. If it happened yesterday or possibly tomorrow then it doesn’t exist. This may or may not be a good habit to develop.

Bryce says, “I am not batman.”  Glad he clarified that.

These grandchildren have a heritage which involves both Africa and Australia (Their Australian heritage could be seen as being British).  When some people look at them, they think the kids are adopted.  I look at them and see my grandchildren. I see my descendants. I see people who have inherited my genes. What do the other grandparents think?  What do they think when they see the kids. The grandparents on the father’s side live in Africa and don’t see their grandchildren as often.

 What do they think?

Do they feel the same connection as me?  The porridge of rolled oats is ready. And milk from the fridge is coming. The fridge door contains many different milks.  All have various amounts of fat. The grandchildren will eat the porridge in chairs attached to the bench top.