Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The worst heatwave of the year hit as my mother arrived for a two-week stay. She had
picked up that in the aftermath of Sean's accident we were not coping at all and had de-
cided to come and help, plus she would see her granddaughters. My mother had been with
us for the coldest winter and was now experiencing the hottest summer. When I opened
the door onto the courtyard, it was like stepping into a massive oven. The car thermometer
registered 45 degrees in the afternoons. We stayed indoors after nine in the morning and
closed all the shutters. At ten at night as darkness settled we opened the shutters and en-
joyed a few hours of relative cool before the blazing sun started the bake again. The only
refuge outside was the girls' paddling pool set under shady trees.
My mother could not understand why we had moved to a place with such an intolerable
climate. It was either hoar frost or a heatwave and nothing in between. I tried to explain
that the six months between their last visit and her current one had been delightful. It wasn't
just the weather; she and my father were still unable to comprehend why we had left our
'successful' city life. Sometimes I felt the same way… but I would never have admitted
that to my parents. I wanted their unconditional support. Sean found it difficult to share a
house with his mother-in-law so we hardly saw him. As it was, before my mother's visit he
and I didn't talk much, thanks to him working long hours. After my mother left, our ability
to communicate worsened and we both withdrew into our work: house renovations for me
and vineyard work for Sean. Nonetheless, I was feeling more relaxed about Sean being out
on the tractor and working with farm equipment, although I still felt angst each time he got
the trimmer out.
There was a broken tile and a persistent leak in the winery roof that needed fixing, and
since no machinery was involved, I let Sean go up on the roof and passed the required ma-
terial up to him. A few seconds later he lurched backwards, thrashing a piece of guttering
around in the air.
'Hornets,' he yelled as he fell back, breaking several more tiles. He leapt up again, still
whacking violently at the air, and lurched closer to the 4-metre drop.
'Climb down the ladder! Forget the hornets! Climb down the ladder!' I screamed.
I couldn't get up in time to do anything so I stood and yelled desperately. At last, he threw
the pipe down and climbed down the ladder at high speed.
'They came out of nowhere,' said Sean, puffing. 'There were a bunch of them zoning in
on my neck and face. Then I got stung on the leg. As soon as that fellow got me the rest
pulled back.' The sting was already red, swollen and very painful. We were lucky he had
only been stung on the leg.
