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All Eyes on a Boomer

Thursday 20 December 2007

Could ONLY happen to me.....

Pregnancy-A time of simple pleasurable days, complete with wonderful and amazing memories.
Happy days, overflowing with exuberance and a constant support network. Baby showers, all the ’goos’ and gaas’ as the mum-to-be holds up those gorgeous tiny sets of baby clothes…oh indeed, it can be such a sweet experience, and so it should be.

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Hmm, my third pregnancy was slightly different. Oh yes I had my partner, family and the small entourage of supportive friends, but I also had many strange mishaps and one which stands out from all others. It could well have been described as a screaming farce!


Here I was, only days away from the due date of my delivery, looking like that typical descriptive ‘beached whale’, the main attraction of what felt like some scene taken direct from a Woody Allen film.

Let me set the scene for you.

My sister-in-law, her partner, myself and my youngest two children, and the local lakeside park. It was fairly overcast and cool, but we had arrived with all intention of making the most of the day. I hadn’t really felt up to much that week, but my sister-in-law insisted we get out of the house saying how much fun we could have and just how much I would benefit by doing so.

For a Sunday, the park had far more activity happening than normal this was due to the unusual amount of tourists that had descended there.

A mass of Japanese tourists, all wearing ‘larger than life’ smiles, and most carrying a camera. They were busy feeding the park’s inhabitants which had lived there for years. It was usually the ducks which attracted people there…and who could blame them? They were cute, for sure, but they were also quite comfortable in these surroundings, regardless of the human intrusion. They’d become quite used to human contact obvious by their interaction with one another. A great place to come for a family barbeque, plenty of utilities and also the convenience of the local Kiosk, which stocked everything needed for the ‘happy camper’. An assortment of climbing equipment, swings and slippery dips, and the park had its own carefully routed tracks for those wanting to do some bushwalking and exploring. Not really what I had in mind, but whenever you spent time with my sister-in-law, you had to expect the unexpected and this would be one of those days. Her eagerness for bushwalking had both children just as keen, and any thought of sitting back at our table while they went alone, well it wasn’t on their agenda! So, as they walked briskly down the winding tracks, through thick scrub, I stayed well back, hanging onto the arm and company of Carol, my sister-in-law’s partner. Luckily for me, Carol shared the same uneasy feeling and at one point stopped, asking if perhaps we should have been dropping rocks, or the crusts from the bread which we were to feed the ducks with? Yes, something right out of the Hansel & Gretyl tale, with me reminding her just what happened to their bread!

“Come on!” shouted my sister-in-law. She didn’t understand why we were so slow and not as eager to climb the rocks, which for me at that time, seemed like ‘climbing every mountain’! Even with her out reached hand offering support, I wobbled nervously, thinking they may need the assistance of some sort of crane to get me down.

The fact I actually made it without causing any bodily harm, to any other person was an accomplishment! “Can we go back now?” my voice almost bordering desperation.

The little hiking group had fun, they located a cave and that was enough to satisfy their exploring for one day.

Once near safer grounds, I took a stroll down towards the lake where by this time, many of the Japanese tourists had gathered for their lunch. My 2 young children ran ahead of me, enticing the ducks with their bag of bread. I took my time, slightly un-balanced, after all, I had extra luggage on board! Out of nowhere, a couple of rather large ducks approached me, beaks open, quacking as they waddled towards me. Not wanting to display my rather uneasiness by this, I threw a piece of bread I’d found on the ground, hoping to distract them enough to get away. Not likely, especially as my children saw this humorous so continued to feed each duck that came out of the water. Soon, I had a family of ducks hot on my trail and an audience of tourists all laughing with great amusement! Cameras snapped pictures which I’m sure made for great conversation somewhere!

One very pregnant woman waddling from a park, followed closely by a family of ducks!

1 comments:

Pop Art Diva Enterprises said...

Hello my fellow Diva! I just added links to your blog at all my blogs!

Pop Art Diva, occasionally masquerading as THE MARTINI DIVA, happily doodling as The NORMAL CHALLENGED Artist, & tripping down Memory Lane as The Pop Culture Diva