Adversity is to Make Us Laugh

We have some wonderful friends here in Berlin named Clark. The family consists of Hugh (the father), Vivien (the mother), 2 children in Utah (Eleanor and John David), 1 son on a mission in Ireland (James), and two daughters living at home (Sarah and Elizabeth). They are from South Africa and we go to their house every so often. I must admit that I absolutely adore this family, and even the big, white cat who is worshipped (as all cats wish to be). Anyway, I've titled this post after something Vivien said the first Sunday we ate dinner with them. I really think this title fits them quite well. Here is a bit of their story (forgive me if I screw it up a bit):

In South Africa they had a car whose brake wouldn't work. One day, Vivien had to stop and ask for directions. She had three of her children in the car, and they were quite young at the time. She thought she could just jump out and get back in quickly. Unfortunately, the car didn't agree with that assessment, and it continued to roll down a hill. It was headed for a fence that, undoubtedly, had a swimming pool behind it. I can only imagine the panic she must have felt as her children rolled towards it. The car was stopped by a pile of sand or something, but not before it became evident that there was, indeed, a swimming pool behind the fence. Vivien is a very boisterous person, and she laughs about it now, but I'm sure it wasn't quite as funny at the time.

Vivien and Hugh told us of two different occasions when they were "burgled." I'm sure I'll get the two confused. One time they saw their stereo out on the lawn, so they knew someone was robbing them. I can't remember if this is the time the lights from the car scared them off, or if this is the time they got the neighbor's dog to help scare the burglar away. At any rate, it sounded terrifying to me. I only wish I could remember all the details.

They've lived through many different trials in South Africa, as you might imagine. They told us how people steal cars with the drivers in them. It's very dangerous.

Today they told us about Kruger National Park. You can see all kinds of wild animals there. However, they also have signs telling you not to roll down the windows of your car or get out of your car. Unfortunately, people don't always heed the signs, and lions and other large cats have been known to attack and eat tourists. One occasion in particular had a lion right up against the car window eyeing a child in the back seat. Apparently the natural prey of a large cat is a monkey, and children look a bit like monkeys to them. On another occasion, a tour guide was a bit too "cheeky," and the people on the tour bus watched as he left the bus and was eaten by a large cat of some sort.

Another story they told us was of an experience hiking around somewhere. It was near someone's farm, so it would have seemed to be a safer area. However, Sarah said that the owner told them to be back before dark. They were walking along a ravine and saw a whole line of baboons laughing at them as they walk. As you might imagine, it was getting rather dark, so they were hurrying to get back. During the night, lions or leopards or some other large cat came around. The following day, Sarah and some friends were down in the ravine and saw that a leopard (or some other large cat) had tracked and killed a baboon.

These are just some of the stories they've shared with us, but they laugh about all of them now. I can't even imagine some of the things they may have had to live through in South Africa, but they're a great example of looking at the sunny side of life and laughing at the rest. If I get a picture of them (and permission), I'll try and post it here so you can all meet them. :)