Malcolm walks to school everyday.
He doesn’t complain about the scorching hot sun.
He doesn’t complain about the humid air that made him sweat so much that drenched his uniform.
He doesn’t complain about the funny ranger hat that he has to wear that doesn’t seem to make it any cooler.
HE JUST DOESN’T MIND (yet).
I must confess that I am not really enjoying the walk to and fro his school everyday
Not when the sun is burning furiously right above me, not when I am carrying an extra 8 kg of load in front of me, not when I am drenched in my own sweat even when I just had a bath before I left the house.
Yes, I am the whiny one here
and I am not proud of it.
And I began to think about the days when I was just about Malcolm’s age.
The days when I have to walk to school everyday
The days when I am responsible for walking my siblings home from school
The days when I have to travel an hour by public bus to get to school.
I don’t remember myself complaining
I don’t remember myself whinning
I go everywhere
I was free
Then I realised that somewhere along the way, I was crippled
Crippled by the material comforts in my life
Materials that are good to have but not necessarily essentials
Materials that promised me a better life yet robbing me from the simple joy in life
And I wonder is that what I want to feed my child …
Note : Malcolm’s new school is 10 minutes walk from our place and I am thinking that we should continue to walk to school even if we do end up with another car.
Glad everything is settle down! I love how you said”Materials that promised me a better life yet robbing me from the simple joy in life” sometime I’ve the same thought like this!
You are absolutely right! But I really really can’t stand the scorching hot sun, and if there are no greenery around to admire), I may still use the car
I like the photo
Rachel : hey tin, there are quite a bit of greenery along the way. I guess I have less reason to drive then.
i dun suppose u brought along an umbrella? works wonders for me, never mind that it looks a bit “auntie”. just get a nice looking one
protects the face from excessive sun too. love the photo too!
Rachel : I do not use an umbrella but malcolm does wear a hat. However, I did think of investing in a roller scooter, to make us go faster
Thank you so much for this post.
apt reminder for me
Rachel : hey same for me here
I absolutely abhor that scorching heat and humidity! The moment I finished my bath, I will sweat again immediately, unless I go into an aircon room straight away!
I also remember that I did not complain about heat when I was a child. It’s not because I’m used to “better things” now, I believe during those days there wasn’t El Nino effect, “global warming” wasn’t a common term we read about, the ozone layer was still intact…
I really think it is getting hotter and HOTTER nowadays due to the nature’s retaliation to men’s insensible treatment.
Rachel : you do have a point there, then again, if we have not tried out aircon, the outdoor heat will probably be more bearable ?
I am going to walk with our eldest to Kinder starting on Mon. I am due in 4 weeks. I hope I will continue to walk him with the new baby. Will you walk Malcolm with the new baby?
Rachel : I will probably end up driving with the new baby and I blamed it on the humidity!