07/07/07 --- The Engagement

The seventh day of the seventh month of the two-thousand and seventh year is meant to bring good luck. A while ago, Moni proposed that she and Kit spend this day together, thinking good thoughts and enjoying each other's company in a special place; she believes -- along with many mystics, yogis and yoginis, zen buddhas, seers and prophets -- good fortune will be gifted to those who honor this day.

Knowing this for several months prior to the trip and to the date in question, Kit spoke with his best friend, tireless romantic and "brother-from-another-mother," James "Oso" Carranza; the two hatched a plan one spring evening at sunset on the dunes of Noriega Avenue at Ocean Beach, accompanied by a six pack of Stella, the elixir of romantics. And on the 7th of the 7th of the 7th, Kit carried out the plan to perfection.

The day dawned sunny and beautiful, with no swell to speak of, the ocean's surface fanned by a light offshore wind. After breakfast, Kit proposed that he and Moni go on a walk to a beautiful cove about an hour away to spend the day together. Moni was thrilled by the prospect of it -- a day with Kit on a white sandy beach with no one around but the dolphins and other assorted sea life (note: the "cove" is actually called "Shark Point," a right hand pointbreak of some notoriety deep in the Transkei wilderness). Moni packed a picnic lunch while Kit haggled with local artisan children who were selling shell necklaces and wind chimes at their doorstep.

At 10:00 a.m., Kit and Moni began their walk, marveling at the beauty of the ocean, its sparkling surface, and the feeding birds, the breeching whales, the wave-riding dolphins. Kit took Moni along a meandering path which ran atop the bluffs over the ocean and then descended to the sandy beaches below. They passed several African children playing soccer barefoot on the beach while others swam naked in the shorebeak. Their path continued, past old rondaval huts and fishermen's shacks, over a river and past a stunning cove.

The path then wound around the top of a small headland, and Kit and Moni were treated to their first glimpse of Shark's Point. The two gasped at the beautiful sight before them -- a small, sunny cove of golden sand with a grassy headland in the southern corner and a rock shelf with a swimming hole in the middle of the small bay. Kit spotted a perfect, grassy nook where the two could enjoy a picnic, and the love birds made their way past cows sunning themselves on the sand, past tiny children with makeshift fishing rods, to a sunny, grassy spot nestled in the lee of the point with a stunning view of the headlands and bays that lay to the north.

After a quick lunch of boerewors rolls (sausage) and dried mango, Kit told Moni that he had a small surprise for her. The young lover showered Moni with several "sweet something" phrases and then reached into his bag and produced a necklace of "lucky beads," a strand of red-orange seeds and sea shells that he bought from one of the young salesmen earlier in the day. Moni was thrilled with her new necklace; she put it on and smiled in the sun.

But, in accordance with the Kit-Oso plan, Kit told his Sweet that he has another surprise for her; she was startled, replying, "but this [necklace] is so special! Why are you spoiling me so?!" Kit then got down on his knees and spoke words that only he and Moni could hear, would ever hear. A tiny tear ran down Moni's cheek as Kit spoke; his own eyes filled with water and a thousand butterflies flew in his chest. Kit then reached back into his rucksack, produced a small box of white leather, opened the box to reveal a diamond sparkling in the African sun, glistening on a gleaming ring while he asked for her hand in marriage.

Moni was shocked, speechless, her mouth open and tears streaming down her cheeks. After several moments of silence, Kit became concerned. "So, what do you say, Moni?" Moni snapped out of her trance-like state and gushed, "Yes, yes! Yes, Kit, I'll marry you!!"

Our two lovers lay in the sun in an embrace, Kit relieved that this day was going so well, Moni still in a euphoric state of dis-belief. As the couple lay back in the sun, admiring the view, a pod of dolphins swam past as if to give their blessing.

Kit and Moni then decided to go for a swim, first at the base of the sandy point and then in the small rock pool Moni had spotted from the trail on high. The two lovers laughed and smiled, swam and took underwater photos of themselves with Kit's waterproof digital camera (a purchase he made, incidentally, at the behest of Oso, one year prior). After frolicking in the ocean, Kit and Moni sunned themselves on the rocks and dried off, and then began their walk home together.

That evening, Kit built Moni a fire, and she produced a bottle of wine. The two sat, fire-side, watching the stars and the dancing flames, and marveling at their good fortune to have found each other in this big world, like two individual stars from an African sky coming together to create a brigther light.

Later that night, Kit and Moni fell asleep as an engaged couple for the first time ever.