H A P P Y

Off we went on our Staycation; the car was packed, and we headed North East on a family adventure that included visiting my parents for a few days. It was the first time in months that my parents had seen Abigail, it was an exceptional few days for everyone.

We spent the rest of the week in Cork, fulfilling simple activities exploring the local fields, going for walks, gardening, dancing in the kitchen, getting a takeaway coffee, visiting the toy store, and a trip to Fota wildlife park.

I think I was more excited about going to Fota than anyone else. I was so curious to see how Abigail would react to seeing all the animals from her books in real life.

I made homemade bread earlier in the week, which was my first time baking it. During “The Beast from the East” or “The Big Snow” in 2018, which was the heaviest snow that I have seen in Ireland, there was a bread shortage. Much like the toilet paper epidemic during the early weeks of COVID, bread flew off the shelves. I recently read a story about a lady that stood staring at the empty bread shelves panic-stricken, at the thought of no bread for breakfast. Her friend saw her despair and offered to bake her bread, to which she replied: "no thank you, I really wanted a sliced pan". The bread shelves were empty, but the flour shelves were full because the majority of us have never tried or don’t know how to make bread. When I read this story, I judged it, before realising, I am that majority. So baking bread is a new skill that I have acquired while working from home or “Working from Hawaii” as I call it. The first batch was delicious if I do say myself, the second was a disaster, but I learned a lot from my mistakes, and with each attempt, I am improving.

Homemade Bread

That evening, in preparation for our trip to Fota, I packed the changing bag and the new sanitizing kit for the car. The kit contains baby wipes, paper towel, masks, hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, gloves and bin bags. It now lives in the car and has become as essential as the changing bag. Since I don't want to eat out at the moment, I packed our lunch which consisted of fruit bowls, ham and cheese salad sandwiches on homemade bread and juice. Basic but tasty.

I can't remember the last time I packed lunch like this; I felt quite nostalgic as I wrapped the sandwiches up. If I didn't make the bread myself, I could have wrapped it in the bread paper; this is something we would do for school back in the day. I remember feeling cool if your lunch was wrapped in bread paper, the smell of the paper alone was fantastic, and it gave me comfort when I missed home during the school day as a child. Just like the word "cool", I imagine wrapping your lunch in bread paper is also out of fashion.

We were up early, about 6 am. We booked the 9 am slot for Fota, and we had to get moving. Time goes by incredibly quick when you are trying to get the family out the door, and I only have one child, well two if you count Jock - Jock couldn't come, unfortunately.

That morning from the moment Abigail woke up, she was in flying form, as if she knew we had a big day plan. She walked into the kitchen saying H A P P Y, H A P P Y, H A P P Y on repeat! I couldn't believe my ears; it was the first time that she said Happy, it was almost musical.

We arrived at Fota, dressed in our coats, wellies with the packed lunch at hand. I felt like we were on a school trip. It must have taken us about 45 mins to move beyond the Giraffes. Since it was so early, all the animals were in the middle of their breakfast, which was lovely to see. But that isn't why it took about 45 mins to move from here. First, Abigail wanted out of the pram, which is a regular occurrence these days. She prefers to walk/run; she spotted a puddle. I think this is where time stood still. She got more fun splashing, stomping and playing in the puddles of water than looking at the Giraffes.

Eventually, we moved on, to the zebras and gazelles, to where we spent time picking up leaves from inside a gazebo. She is always cleaning up; I think she gets that from me. We continued walking after the leaf clean up; we were about halfway around the park when we reached the tigers. Appearing tired at this point, she was willing to get back into the pram to have her lunch. I was filled with pride and joy, watching her snack on the fruit and eating the sandwiches; she was the picture of contentment. No sooner was the food down the hatch and she wanted out of the pram again.

The red pandas were also having their lunch now, their coats were fluffy, and they had cute teddybear like faces, which got her attention. She cried "Panda, Panda", and so we stopped here for a while, watching them eat bamboo leaves and running around their enclosure.

We continued past a few mama and baby monkeys and birds, which led to a forestry opening. The trees were tall and had grown close together so that the leaves created a green, shady ceiling above us. As the twinkling sunlight beamed through the openings in the branches onto the leafy floor below, it felt like an enchanted forest. Abigail must have been thinking what I was thinking, she let out a W O W, as she ran around the forestry floor, collecting sticks for about 20 mins.

By now, we were on our feet for at least two and a half hours, I was starting to get tired, but she was still in high energy mode. We got get amusement from the ducks, birds and penguins. The penguins were swimming from side to side of the pond as if they were showing off in a race; it was very entertaining. Abigail chased a few ducks and tried to get into the pond, not joking, only one other child was thinking the same thing "Let's go swimming", so you can imagine the drama that unfolded when she realized that "ready, steady, splash" wasn't going to happen today.

Kangaroos and their joeys lay basketing in the sun; the flamingos were asleep with their heads tucked in as we crossed the bridge and turned the corner on the last stretch home. I thought we had seen all the animals until out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a cheetah cleaning her cub right against the fence. I streaked with delight, I have seen lion cubs and tigers before but not cheetahs. Three of the cubs must have only been a few weeks old, while the other three looked slightly older; they were simply breathtaking. Over 200 cheetah cubs have been born in Fota since 1985. The cats are housed in a similar way to how they live in the wild - males together, with females, separated. When the Mama cheetah was finished cleaning her cubs, she sat protectively right up at the fence as her cubs played behind her. Pride and protectiveness exuded from her statuesque pose. Abigail was also intrigued by the cubs.

As we headed towards the exit, we waved goodbye to the giraffes, zebras and blue parrots and made our way back to the car. It took us over three and a half hours to get around the park, we were exhausted, but Abigail seemed more awake than ever, I think she was over-stimulated. She didn't nap when we got home but was in bed early.

Fota wildlife park is so beautiful, easy to navigate, and it has a real sense of adventure. It is clean, and the social distancing guidelines make you feel at ease. It was a wonderful day out, and I was sure it would be a day full of stories, about how Abigail reacted to the animals, her expressions and excitement but what I remember most about the day is her saying H A P P Y for the first time, as she bounced into the kitchen. The pure joy she expressed from splashing in the puddles, marvelling at the trees, collecting leaves and sticks will be forever embedded in my mind. She reminded me of how simple things can bring us joy, sometimes we don't need to buy lots of toys, or even visit exotic animals, sometimes we just need to splash in a puddle or make homemade bread.

To quote Henry David Thoreau - "That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest."

Keep safe, wear a mask,

Regards,

Working from Hawaii