People who know me know that I will go to an awful lot of trouble to avoid events such as barbecues, and children's birthday parties in particular. However, those same people who know me will also know that very occasionally I also succumb, if only to make enough of a nuisance of myself to avoid being asked to go again a few months later.
Today was one such rare occasion when I dragged myself along to a friend's daughter's sixth birthday party in the Nelligen Park and even took some photographs so that, if those little brats ever grow up, they can admire themselves in twenty years from now in these pictures:
For the first half-hour or so I just stood by the water's edge, envying all those other people doing sensible things like fishing or paddling their canoes. Then Padma came over. "What are you doing?" "Oh, nothing; just keeping out of the way." "You're not supposed to keep out of the way. The idea of the party is to mix. Talk to people. Relax." Which was a bit like telling Salman Rushdie to relax inside Lakemba mosque. Anyway, I joined in the 'fun', of which Padma took the following video clips:
Luckily, I met a fellow-German who, even though he totally failed being German by being far too friendly, made me feel just a little bit better:
Still, by the end of it all, I felt a bit like this little fellow:
I'm back at "Riverbend" now, and life is back to normal. Phew!!!
