Snowflake – all the way from Russia with love

Dear Maria, the long-awaited parcel has arrived – all the way from Russia in under three months this time. Maria, the author of the blog https://eternamenta.wordpress.com/, who resides in Moscow, faithfully sends me a card and gift every Christmas. Due to the fickleness of our mail services in this part of the world, I always hover between eagerness and doubt, wondering if and when the parcel will arrive.

This time of the year we walk to the beach on a daily basis, weather permitting, along various pathways. We make a point of walking the route past the mailbox at least once every two weeks, a hike of about 5 km. We popped in at the store which runs a Post Office agency, on a really hot summer day this week, and in the mailbox, there was the notification of the parcel waiting for us. The staff members, noticing the foreign stamps, were almost as excited as Karen and me about the mail that arrived from this faraway country. This is not an everyday occurrence in our neck of the woods.

Just across the street from the store, I sat down on somebody’s front lawn and opened the parcel. Not even in the lovely shade, no, here in Africa we like it hot and on a beautiful day we soak up the sun. It doesn’t mean, however, that we do not actually feel the heat and I laughed in delight when I saw Maria’s Christmas wish for me – snow even in Africa! Not much chance of that, even over Christmas, but I must admit that the thought of a handful of snow to cool down the heat on my skin, seemed like a marvelous idea right then. Maria obviously loves the cool weather and the snow that they experience in Russia at that time of the year, but I do wish that I could bottle a little sunshine to forward to her.

Once again, thank you, Maria. I’m so happy to report that a little piece of Russia arrived safely in my home country. Thank you for the lovely wishes and for thinking of me over the festive season.