Biscuit Breaks

 

In April, Jacob and I had the good fortune of a double bill visit from the UK - first Mark and Lydia, and then Ollie. All three came bearing good gifts. Mark and Lydia brought enough hot cross buns to feed an army, which sweetened our Easter and beyond. Ollie brought a tin of Heinz baked beans, English Breakfast tea, and a tube of McVities digestives.

Those humble digestives have been life changing. 

Digestives had previously been something I categorised as a snack for a car ride during family holidays in the UK. These were inevitably the chocolate covered variety, even better if they were dark chocolate digestives. They existed in that holiday bubble and never penetrated life over here, except for a brief phase where Hannah and I would cover them in icing and sprinkles as a treat (I had a wild childhood). 

With this tube, however, Jacob introduced me to the biscuit break. He sent me a picture of himself, grinning over a cup of tea and holding a digestive up to his face. "A mid-morning snack," I thought, "nothing groundbreaking." 

When Jacob's school holidays came about and we worked from home together, he'd stop us at 10am for a biscuit break and I happily joined him. It's such a joyful interlude, and in my head a very childlike snack, given the attention you have to pay to the dipping-of-biscuit-into-tea, to avoid a soggy biscuit or worse, a soggy biscuit in your cup. 

I've now taken the biscuit break to work with me, two digestives (and two squares of chocolate, because old habits die hard) and a cup of earl grey or rooibos tea. What a gift. 

Otters by the river

 

Each time I cycle to work these days, I look out for the otters.

Otter sightings on my commute used to be a rarity. I'd hear their squeaky-toy cries first, and then perhaps one sleek brown head breaking through the water, then another, and another. 

This year, around Jiak Kim bridge, I noticed a few signboards being put up, and the banks of the river closed off by orange barricades. The signs said that the area was closed off for an otter nursing ground. I didn't see any otter activity there for a couple of months, but I smelled rotting fish which suggested they'd been in the area. 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw a family sprawled on a concrete boat mooring. They were sunning themselves and snoozing. A small crowd of people had gathered nearby. Some were peering through binoculars to have a closer look. I stopped my bicycle and watched, and saw to my delight a pup push it's head out from behind it's mother. Then another, and soon after it, a third! Three squirmy pups.

Last week I saw one pup peeking out from under the bridge, near a large and very stinky dead fish.

Today I saw them swimming, adult and pups together.

Every time feels like a miracle.