A little later that morning the river subsided a bit but still was flowing pretty fast, above the sound of the water we heard our neighbors German Sheppard dog barking frantic on the other side and was to scared to come back across.
Me being the hero donned my costume and preceded to go to the rescue, much to many protests from my family, I went a little way up the river and and when I was swept off my feet made my way across and grabbed the dog by the collar as I passed said dog and me managed to get back on our side about three houses down to the applauding neighbors and relieved family.
From that day on every day on my return from work that same dog was sitting in our driveway and wagging his tail, guess I had made a new friend.
After all the excitement we phoned my parents who lived about a half hours drive away and asked if they could bring us a few things from the shops as we were stranded and could not get out till the bridge was repaired,
They parked their car on the other side of a railway line and could gain access to our house that way.
Their reward was staying for lunch and listening to their grand kids rave on about not being able to get to school the next day because of the bridge. It will be said that we felt the same way about work the next day but we played that one down.
By then, as if by magic the sun came out and tuned into a beautiful summers day and a traditional “braai” was called for ( South African term for barbecue)
This was what we settled for-
SA Braai
Boereworse ( traditional spicy SA sausage )
Marinated chicken breast in Portuguese spice,
Garlic, lemon juice
Wrapped in foil for the first part, then on the coals
Small lamb ribs coated with a mix of chutney & vinegar
And barbecue spice
(Ends up with a sweet/sour taste)
Served with-
Potato salad with a ½ tsp. turmeric powder mixed with the mayonnaise
Gives it a unique flavor and colour
Greek Salad
Apple salad ( mix of chopped apples, strong cheddar cheese, raisins & mayonnaise )
Garlic bread
Followed by Vinegar pudding (see back pages for recipe)
After all the compliments and thank you’s my parents went home and we finished off the day sipping sun downers on the veranda and watching the river subside to its usual stream.
A couple of months later we decided to buy our first home, we found a good offer a little way out of town in an area called Drummond. It was a 50 kilometre drive for me to my office but seeing that I was traveling around all the time on business it didn’t bother me, and Jasmine had only about 20 Klm to go to her office, the children bussed it to school.