Yes, I am counting the hours until Tom returns, let alone the days. In about 48 hours, he’ll surely walk in the door with a wide grin on his face. He appreciated the time he spent with family, especially those spent with his kids, alone without me. We’ve both always felt that some alone time with our adult children is good, especially since we are a blended family and fully understand that our children may enjoy time alone with their parent, instead of the two of us.
No offense is taken by this fact by either of us. When we go to Minnesota, we spend some time together with my son Greg and his three children, but I spend time with them on my own while Tom is busy with his kids and grandkids. We make a point of spending any holidays that occur while we’re together, perhaps at different times of the day.
We’ll be back in the US in September, which is a mere six months from now, and again, we’ll shuffle around to see everyone. We’ll be staying a total of three weeks in the US, one week in Nevada with son Richard and renewing our driver’s licenses, and then fly to Minnesota to see our three other children, grandchildren, and other family members and friends.
In the past few years, we’ve spent more time in the US than we had in the first five or six years of world travel, which has proven good for us all. No doubt, living away from grown children and their families is not easy, but many seniors move to warmer climates and are away from their families for extended periods. We’re trying to coordinate our travels to allow more time with family as we continue on our journey.
We’d never have stayed in Minnesota if we hadn’t decided to travel the world. With the cold, ice, and snow, we, too, would have sought warmer and safer climates as so many people do as they age. Many seniors break bones, including hips (especially women), from falling on the icy roads and pavement. Walking out to one’s car in a parking lot was terrifying when walking on glare ice. Even young people often fell and hit the icy ground with a thud.
It’s been snowing quite a bit while Tom has been in Minnesota, but soon, he’ll return to upcoming fall weather in South Africa, when it will begin to cool down on days like today. It’s heavenly with lowered temperatures and humidity with a high of only 84F, 29C.
Tom suggested that perhaps our readers may not be interested in the weather in Africa. But recently, many have written that it’s interesting to them to see how our weather compares to theirs and how different it is across the world.
This evening, I am invited to Louise and Danie‘s home for the lamb braai. Soon, after load shedding ends (when I can use the oven with the inverter system), I am making them a keto cheese pie which they both love. I always make an extra pie for me which I savor in small pieces each evening after dinner. It keeps well for several days in the refrigerator. Tom doesn’t care for it, so I won’t concern myself with saving some for him. I offered to bake something for him for his return, but he said he had donuts left in the freezer and that he’ll enjoy those with his coffee each morning.
I am planning a special dinner for the night he returns. I imagine it will be an early night since he’ll arrive here around 1:00 pm, 1300 hours. He may take a short nap to be able to enjoy the evening with me. It only takes us one good night’s sleep to recover after not sleeping for two days, and I am sure that will be the case for him this time too.
Although we’ve talked a lot on the phone since he’s been gone, we’ll have plenty to catch up on. The time can’t come quickly enough for me. I’ve realized as I’ve aged not to wish for time to fly quickly and to savor every moment of our lives. But, this time apart leaves less opportunity for savoring life, although I’ve had some very fun times with our friends while he was away enjoying every moment.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, March 13, 2022:
