Lunch under the tree

I have many pictures from Cape Town that I have not posted, and was looking through some, remembering, wondering, missing. I don't remember this lunch.

That's what I like about the picture. The light, the hands carrying glasses (my father's?)...Vince's arm poised, ready to carry, fetch, assist. Five glasses of bubbly on the table. Why five? Who else was there? Marijke? It looks like samosas from the market at Porter School, and bread, too; my mother's chutney.

A table laid for any meal is such a beautiful, promising thing. Cloth napkins, proper glasses, cutlery, China plates. Whether it's a picnic on a sandy beach, supper outside under stars, or a blanket on a lawn - making it beautiful rewards the effort. Nothing has to be expensive. The glasses can be mismatched, but real glass or crystal, the plates from junk shops.

I really think that eating properly makes us better people. As though sitting up straight to sip from a long stem improves our moral backbone, clinking knife against plate sharpens our wits and buttering our bread graces our hearts with possibilities.