Ancient twins

Hard to believe Perran and Carenza reached the milestone of their thirtieth birthday this week. I envision them crossing some sort of line in the sand with the word Fun inscribed on one side and Responsibilities on the other.
Will the brunching and travelling (by bike bus and train - they try to avoid plane) suddenly screech to a halt?

And what does it mean for me that my youngest children are now thirty? I'm already losing height and gaining wrinkles. Will the twins start talking to me as if they are the parents and I am a recalcitrant child who does not understand the way of the world?

Amidst all this apprehension however, there was some mirth. Perran and  Carenza were out to dinner with friends. The waitress stopped to chat so Carenza announced, 'It's our birthday!'
'We're twins,' added Perran.
'What? ' exclaimed the waitress, 'Of each other?'
None of us could work out the odds of the coincidence it would take for twins from different families to share a birthday and be out to dinner together on it.

But it made us laugh.
Although the waitress is probably still somewhere slapping her forehead and muttering 'How could I have said that?'

Photo by Jamie

The Cult of Beauty

We were meeting Perran and Carenza in London to celebrate their birthday.

But what would we do together? 

Nigel, Carenza and I were interested in  The Cult of Beauty exhibition at the Wellcome Collection. 

'No' said Perran, 'I've never liked the Wellcome Collection, ever since you took us there as kids. It smells weird and medical, and some of the exhibits are always gross.'

However, we failed to achieve consensus on anything else and ended up at the Wellcome. Surely an exhibition on Beauty would be fine!

I watched Perran steel himself at the entrance. In the exhibition he was breathing shallowly. In fact, I couldn't detect unpleasant smells and there was even an art installation which replicated the beauty potions made by mediaeval women and emitted scents of rose and herbs.

With beauty as the subject, many of the images were colourful and attractive. So far, so good.

We were nearly at the end of the exhibition, when it happened. My eye was caught by two jars of fluid containing round, peach-like objects. What were they? I looked closer. 

The photo above and the label informed me they were the surgically removed breasts of a trans man. Complete with tattoos.

Rapidly I moved on.

The weird thing was that afterwards, when we compared notes, the only other person who'd spotted this challenging exhibit was Perran. 

Sorry son. 

Happy birthday anyway!

 

Whatever happened to Twinnyness?

We celebrated Perran and Carenza's birthday by going to the Making Modernism exhibition at the RA. (Thanks to MaryBeeArt for the recommendation.) Four women artists made extraordinary work at a time when to be called a great artist you had to have a pair of testacles.

Two of the paintings were of twins, but as babies. It's true that now Perran and Carenza are very much adults, people rarely congratulate me on my multiple birth, or say , 'You've got your hands full.'

Even in the cafe where we went for lunch afterwards, the waitress heard us discussing 'the birthday' and brought a single scoop of tiramisu with a candle....and set it in front of Carenza. Perran (who actually made the booking) said, 'And it's my birthday too,' only to have the waitress smile non-comitally, as if he were some kind of dessert fraudster.

So does twinnyness really diminish in adulthood? 

Not at all.

The twins arrived at the RA from different parts of London - although they hadn't seen each other that day, they were nattily dressed to match, both in baggy black trousers and outsize jackets.

Twinergy.

When Will I See You Again?

I remember the magical day last year when two households were allowed to meet outdoors for the first time.  We drove and Perran and Carenza hired an Uber and we met in Epping Forest.  it was so wonderful to see them, so weird not to be able to hug.   The weather was perfect that day, just as it would be for the reunion scene in a Hollywood Movie.

The Covid roadmap released earlier this week tells us it will be a while before we can see the twins again.  We had the privilege of Pascoe’s company in December. But, unaware we were about to Lockdown in November and then have Christmas ‘cancelled’, we last spent a day with Perran and Carenza in early October. 

I have never had so long apart from them and am looking forward to the day when two households can meet outdoors, even if the only kind of cuddles will be air hugs.

For the picnic I am planning to bake vegan pasties from scratch.  Now if that isn’t taking it seriously, what is?

Missing you

So the twins moved out. 

Some, although very definitely not ALL of their gear has gone with them.

Just like a beach during one of those especially low tides at Easter, parts of their bedrooms were exposed that hadn’t seen the light of day in months.

It stimulated in me a primitive urge to clean.  One that I am normally able to overcome. 

But perhaps cleaning would make me feel better.

Faced with the carpet under their beds, the hoover gave an asthmatic wheeze and demanded to be emptied.

It also became obvious that many of the shampoos/skin scrubs and cleansing products which STILL jostled for position on the bathroom shelf never were going to be used again, and could now be recycled.

But just as I had my sleeves rolled up and a black bag gaping, I heard a key in the door.

Perran was home.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve got a couple of days’ holiday and we haven’t got wi-fi connected yet.”

I think our central heating may have been an added attraction.

Although obviously I have been telling everybody that it was just that he missed me so much!

However, it’s the weekend and he’s gone again now, and I’m on my way upstairs once more to attack the ‘dust bunnies’ under his bed.

Actually, I’ve just had a good look at them – make that ‘dust rhinos’.

No More Empty Nest

Recently we redesigned our back garden. 

We made sure there were holes in the base of the new fence for hedgehogs. 

We put in a pond to attract newts and frogs. 

We hung up birdfeeders to encourage finches and tits.

And now we are rewarded by seeing the little creatures in our garden.

Meanwhile, in the house, we have at last mended the hole in the bath (long story).  We have also installed electric blankets.  We have packed the fridge full of wholesome food, especially hummus, lots of hummus.

So what kind of wildlife have we managed to attract to our house? 

The answer is Twins. 

Perran and Carenza have both begun their working lives in the London area. 

For the time being, they are living with us.  

I put out fresh food each night and mostly they return.

But when their post-university bank accounts have recovered, they plan to move out and rent a flat.

I feel sorry for them that housing is so expensive right now, but quite glad they are stuck with us for a bit.

Just hope we don’t have to cut holes in the fence for them though.
They would be enormous.