OCR Text |
Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS“ Page 12 January 1, 2007 Fleeting Moments... By Drienie Hattingh When I was small, my oe used to tell me, “Drienie, in God plan, our lives on earth are counted in seconds; we should make those seconds count and be thankful.” While sitting at the kitchen table listening to her wisdom, | heard Grandfather call from the porch. “But you also must enjoy those moments . ne of these moments happened last Thursday night in our apartment on 25"th Street. I stood looking at the amazing scene in front of me. The apartment sparkled with Christmas lights and decorations, and I could hardly think straight with all the laughter and talking echoing through our home. I never thought that we would be able to fit 20 people into such a small space. But that was not what was so amazing. What left me speechless was that ten South Africans (who I had only met two hours before) and ten Americans (who met the South Africans fen minutes before) were laughing and t though they were old friends, and having fun at a Christmas get-together. I just in awe, remembering to 0 count” as my Grandmother Stolz told me to all those years ago, and I definitely enjoyed the “moment” immensely, just like Grandfather instructed. Two hours before, I had received a call from my daughter Yolandi who works at Roosters situated just a couple of blocks up the road from us. “Mom! You have to be here! There’s ten South Africans sitting around a table having dinner! And. he said excitedly, “they are talking Afrikaans!” n, Johan and I were in Roosters speaking in Afrikaans to a lovely group of young people—five couples who have been friends since elementary school. Petrus and Karlien, Gene and Willemien, Kobus and Anel, and Nantes and Ingrid. For years these friends planned to come to America for a winter vacation. They wanted to experience skiing and snow. Many of them had never seen snow before com- ing to our Valley. Out of all the ski places in America, they decided on our Valley; they checked into a condo at Wolf Creek. owder Mountain was not open for skiing yet, so they went skiing at Snowbasin. They could not stop talking about this great ski resort. “Those Lodges! And we could walk with our wet snow boots on the beautiful carpets! those lovely chandeliers! And the heated gondolas! And the moun- Eden Writer’s Circle and their guests— Wendy and Matt Toliver, Barb and Father John Emanuelson, Kera and Mike Erickson, Dimitria Van Leeuwen and Jenifer Poe, and Mike and Delaney Coombe. We were in the midst of having our year-end Christmas Dinner Party when the South Africans arrived! When we met the South Africans at Roosters, they told us that that night was actually their last in Utah. They decided to Coming together - African meets America. . . tains!” The group of South Africans fell in love with our Valley and its people. “Eden and Ogden are the friendliest towns in the world!” Petrus exclaimed and his friends nodded in agreement, commenting on how friendly the people at the Valley Market, Wolf Creek, and Rusty Cactus (where they had dinner a couple of times) were, and also the people on 25th Street and the servers at Roosters. The Americans at our apartment on this interesting night were all members of the spend it on 25th Street by having dinner at Roosters and then visiting den’s Christmas Village. “I’m having my writer’s group over for dinner, but we should be done by eight,” I told our new friends. “Why don’t you come over to our apartment for coffee then?” Johan and I walked back to our apartment, not thinking that the South Africans would have time to take us up on our offer. But, just as we sat down for dinner, the doorbell rang! Wendy our front least ten ipoked out the window, down to door. “Drienie! There are at ar at your door!” While Johan went to open the door, I turned to my American friends. “Our party is about to be crashed by ten South Africans!” I enlightened them. We put my chicken curry and rice in the warming oven, and blew out the candles on my Christmassy decorated tables. The shivering South Africans spilled into our cozy apartment and laughingly introduced themselves to the Americans Dinner forgotten, “South” and “West” met and meshed while all visited, laughed, and shared stories from oe totally different backgrounds .. . o hours! I looked at the group sai all of a sudden I felt proud of my American friends. How wonderful for these South Africans to get a taste moo American culture through such of wonderful Americans! And then ‘felt I a surge of pride when I looked at the young people m my country of birth. How wonderful for my American friends to get a taste of the South African culture ee such a group of wonderful South Afric Wendy came e to stand next to me, smiling from ear to ear, and eyes sparkling with enjoyment. I whispered to her, “I do not know when we’re going to have dinner!” “I don’t care Drienie!” she exclaimed. “Everyone’s enjoying it all. Just look at them! It’s like a scene from Breakfast at Tiffany’s!” At about eight, our new friends started ays goodbye. “Wow!” Kobus called ‘Il didn’t think we’d visit with niet icans in an American home on our trip! This was such a pleasure; a highlight of our trip!” Everyone nodded in agreement. With the head count halved, we sat down to dinner at last. And while Father John said a dinner blessing, I said my own little prayer, thanking God for all the amazing moments that He allows me to experience during my fleeting time on earth. mz ad ents, 7 Days a Week...Rain Snow or Shine... a * “ | Moose Hollow condos with Lake and +Snowbasin views. 1100-1600 SF SPRING BENGTZEN - Nee 1431 spring @wolfcreekresort.com Specializing in new-construction resort properties se $295,000-$595,000 Highlands Final Phases. . — Elevated View lots of — Snowbasin and E ae * Pineview Lake. ) Restricted covenants. © Full infrastructure. el ret NNN FINCHER - Owen Ifincher@wolfcreekresort.com Specializing in resort homesites and custom homes $299,000 _— Green Hills Lot #19 »2 acres with Panoramic Mountain and Lake Views. * Ready to build your z dream ie JACQUELINE HOFF - 801-920-8853 jaci@move2mountains.com es ia in Ss Moos properties home. Moose Hollow Real Estate Office 801-745-3744 eDaily 11 AM - 6 PM $590,000 Custom home near fl Snowbasin with 5+ acres tof fenced horse property. 3BR/2BA in 2,106 SF Ww Se in OPEN 7-DAYS A WEEK! Wolf Creek Clubhouse Real eo 801-745-2218 © Daily 11 AM - mé) + 2-car garage oN toh ay WY (OlB UNS RTL Carolyn@SkiOgdenValley.net Specializing in Ogden Valley Horse & Ski Property Ogden Valley Junction Office 801-745-3738 eDaily 11 AM - PM Chk RESORT PROPERTIES, 1c. ee |