How does one recover from a whirlwind of majestic proportions I’m asking myself.  I suppose the obvious answer would be to go and  lie in a darkened room until the feeling has passed and that I am quite  certain I am back on an even keel.

 

 

Mind you, the way I feel I am positive that I will be lying in this darkened  room for a very, very long time, not only is  my head thumping but I think my whole body is  shaking as a consequence of all the shenanigans.

 

 

Unfortunately, I really have no time to lie in a darkened room;  the show has to go on, what show I can hear you asking,  well I will tell you.   Naomi, has just taken her last bow, the curtain has come down on her final act,  more to the point her grand finale!

I would never have  been able to second guess that just getting her to the Airport and into the departure lounge would have been so traumatic, yes;  some would say it was definitely her last hoorah and what a hoorah it proved to be!

 

 

I have been  left to gather my scattered wits, terrified that she is already penciling in her next debut onto the Dubai stage.   Please God, don’t let it be too soon, don’t think I can cope, actually I know I can’t!  I’m weak at the knees thinking that it may even be a possibility.

You might recall my Mother doesn’t seem to be too much like other Mamas, well not the ones I have had the pleasure of meeting, she  doesn’t appear  to give a dam about anything (I mean this in the nicest possible way).   If she gets an idea into her head she peruses it with the tenacity of a terrier,  off she goes,  right reason or none.

 

 

Between you and me I’m fully expecting Mike to come home this afternoon to say that he is well and truly in the Dog house with Shell and I think that, perhaps, BOAC will want to know what all the commotion was about at check- in this morning.

 

Actually, it was my Ma trying to get an enormous 5 ft x 3 ft oil painting,  of the Creek,  incidentally still in it’s frame, on board their flight to London, as hand luggage, no less!

 

 

 

I ask you, it never crossed her mind that it might be too large to even  get through the cabin door let alone  that she might have been charged excess baggage how dire would that have been.  Between you and me I have a shrewd idea that somehow she would have tried to side step that issue too.  No wonder I’m in such a pickle!

To think she even bamboozled her way into the Majlis and actually had an audience with Sheikh Rashid, secretly I’m full of admiration, but wished she hadn’t had these bright ideas on my watch.

 

 

We will never know how she met Mohammed Al Moosa or for that matter.Zacharaiah let alone how she managed to coerce them into being party to this deadly deed.   It was obviously bribery of some sort or another, or by any chance did she still have a twinkle in her eye that totally mesmerized the pair of them?

I do know she gave them both a special  silver coin,  that had been minted in London,  to commemorate a particular Royal occasion as a thank you.   I think Zachariah had his made into a key ring!  A memento indeed!  I’m sure the last time I saw him he said that it was still in use, a daily, reminder of an amazing moment with one amazing lady!

 

 

I wonder when it will be safe to get out from under, well what I really mean, is to show myself around town.  I’m a  bit apprehensive really, wondering how many other people might  come forth with a ‘little gem’ about her,  I surely don’t want to know.

Have a vision of whoever her next victim might be saying, here she comes, one, two three duck!  Actually, not too sure if I’m up to hearing about any more of her antics, best to let sleeping dogs lie.

 

I have heard though that when she tagged along with the lady benefactors, who used to rise at the crack of dawn and drive way out into the desert to ‘feed the children’,  that she had them all singing songs from the Sound of Music,  as they marched over the desert.

 

 

This surely must have  been a sight  and a sound to behold, especially as the sun would have just been rising over the horizon, bathing this merry little scene with its rosy glow. And so it goes on!  Not too sure how the devil I manage to be so normal!!  Or am I?

As the saying goes, the show must go on, time has stood still for the last month and there are things to do.  Firstly, I must regain my equilibrium then leap off to the Sailing Club, my poor Mini sail will be feeling truly abandoned.  I have just remembered that I have offered to take one of the new Army wives out for a spin she will be thinking that I have stood her up, oh dear!

 

Invitations are still piling up on our preferable mantle piece, sometimes I feel as if I have to keep running just to stand still – With new Military arrivals popping up here and there all wanting to become part of the Dubai social scene there is no shortage of smart Military parties to be attended.  As the saying goes there is no show without Punch!

 

 

A little secret, the dinner parties we gave usually started off by being pretty formal but had a tendency to degenerate as the evening wore on – I wonder why?  This was especially apparent when the time arrived for the ladies to take their leave whilst the men enjoyed, that age old ritual of passing, the port,  naturally, always to the left!

 

 

Our lady guests were never backwards in coming forwards and were usually quite miffed at being shunted off,  adopting the attitude that if you can’t join them you might as well match them, thus demanding a large top up,  to enjoy whilst powdering their noses!

 

 

More often than not the Houseboys had preempted their requests thus ensuring the girls definitely did not loose out on valuable drinking time.    One of these days maybe we girls will have our own ritual of passing the port whilst powdering our noses, now that’s definitely  a thought!   These ladies were a formidable bunch and didn’t need telling that there was normally more than one way of killing the cat!

 

I think, I’m now beginning to recover and might raise my head above the parapet and have a little peek at the outside World.  As I look down on the Dhows below gently bobbing up and down with the ebb  and flow of the tide,  seeing their inhabitants busying themselves with their daily routines, thank goodness all seems so reassuringly normal.

 

 

I heave a great sigh of relief,  as I think I might just be feeling brave enough to face the outside world.   Then I have a strange thought, maybe they were the only folk in Dubai that my Mama, didn’t try and chat up, or did she?  I have news for you, I’m not going to stick my neck out, so we will never know!

Just recalling my Mother’s antics has made me want to go and lie in a darkened room, even after all these years!

I hope this little tale has brought a smile to your face –  Catch up with you in two weeks,  Tuesday 8th December, 2015