"The Mountains are Calling"

Change is a strange thing. We know that it is always going to happen yet we are never quite prepared for it. We know every year the seasons will roll in one after the other just as we know the sunset is always on its way yet we always neglect to remember the dawn of a new day will always follow. This year has been nothing short of ‘change’, a new tide was rolling in and whether or not my little household was prepared for it, it happened with or without us.

In a house of highly competitive sportspeople, Keith and I have always lived life to the standard of “keep up or get left behind”. Throughout most of 2020 this mentality became more and more useful and before we knew we were adjusting to a new life and adapting to our environment in no time. It was only once the turn of the year happened did we realise that 2020 was actually just practice for what lay ahead in 2021. This year brought a whole new set of challenges that we thought we were prepared for but were never even close. Unexpected changes are my nemesis as a staunch planner, anything that does not go according to plan is enough to make for a very grumpy Michelle. Unfortunately though, that is life, and our plans are not what is actually written in the stars.

December 2020 landed up being a puzzling time, it was a time where it didn’t feel like much was moving, nothing backwards and most definitely nothing forwards. In times like these fasting becomes an integral part of finding our next step forward. During this time I felt God was telling me that our time in Durban was coming to an end. Of course this was a frightening concept for myself and Keith to wrap our heads around, under any circumstances those are often the words you do not want to hear. Of course we knew our plan inevitably was out of our control and as the New Year began we slipped down the slippery slope of the bio-bubbles. The bio-bubbles took up most of our focus, Keith was gone weeks at a time and although I personally had a lot of time on my hands I had to get used to a big change of routine and to sit and play a waiting game. Fast forward to March and we knew our journey was taking us elsewhere, where exactly was the question taunting us relentlessly.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, being a cricket wife often feels like an army wife, not just through having a husband on the road all the time but also by the fact that you never know when you’re going to have to pack up and move next. The longevity of a sportsman’s career is left to be desired and during our adolescent years talking about life in our 30’s seemed so far away but in the blink of an eye we’ve had to realise how quickly life flies by. Every opportunity is golden in the world of sport, because the harsh truth of it is, you never know when it will be your last. So when opportunities pop up that require us to relocate, no matter how much we loved our physical home, we have to take it and run with it.

In April we gave months’ notice before even knowing where we were moving, it was a giant leap of faith that put us under so much pressure. Within the month of April I had a couple of big jobs lined up, it was a long planned trip that I had been working on since December 2020. The entire campaign I was running was going to be just under two weeks, which meant within that month we had to decide where we are moving, house-hunt and move within the free two weeks we would have had. We knew the pressure was building but we were up for the challenge, life happens while life is happening and in true chaotic Dudgeon style we were going to make it happen. Three days before we were due to leave I fell terribly ill with symptoms associated with COVID-19, but I could only get tested once the Easter weekend was over not only because of public holidays but because you have to wait about five days in order for a COVID-19 test to be as accurate as possible. Unfortunately we had to call ahead and postpone our dates, my test results would have only come in the night before we were leaving, far too late notice to let people know we’d no longer be able to travel. Turns out I didn’t have COVID-19 but I did have quite a severe bacterial infection that had reached my lungs and had me man down for well over week. I think we’ve forgotten there’s other forms of illnesses out there other than this dreaded coronavirus.

Being sick actually prolonged our moving process even more than what our traveling would have. We eventually were able to decide where we were going, finally once all offers were on the table, and our new adventure was happening before we even knew it. We had decided our great move was taking us inland, to the KZN Midlands we were going, Hilton our new home and The Oval, Pietermaritzburg Keith’s new home ground. So within a week we were up the N3, house-hunting, saw a house that we could call home and the deal was done.

A small bump in the road came when we realised that our house wasn’t ready for us to move in from May but work for me started from the 1st of May, a mad scramble to get ourselves up to Pietermaritzburg ensued and we found ourselves at a quaint little lodge for the month leading up to starting a new life in our new home. We are so grateful for the opportunities that we are constantly afforded and somehow whenever it feels like disaster strikes we always seem to come out unscathed and most importantly with a hell of a story. So in amidst living out of multiple bags, cooking indoors with camping equipment and lots of well-timed traveling, we are having an absolute ball.

So there you have it, what has been our lives for the past few months. A huge thank you to everyone that have played pivotal roles in our lives and during our time in Durban, one thing Durban has taught me is the power of community and how much we actually need those around us to thrive. Another big thank you to the brands I’ve been working with as well as the lodges and companies that have remained on-board, it’s such a privilege to showcase the best our country and province has to offer. I cannot wait to see what the future holds and the exciting times that lie ahead.

Every season has its end, and often when we speak about our seasons of life we imagine winter giving way to spring, the grand blossoming of new life after a time of baron. However life works in full circles and we dread what happens when summer gives way to autumn? We often mourn the transition and place focus on the ‘loss of life’ that is so often associated with the colder months. The life we are living now came from what felt like life ending, meanwhile it came from a call into new life, a call to use the winter months to sow something great in new soil. A call to the mountains, and whilst heeding this new call, in the famous words of John Muir, “I must go”.