It’s hard to grasp the concept of us leaving Africa in a mere four weeks from today. Tom asks me why I keep track of how many days we go, especially when leaving is not my preference. Well, the answer for me is simple. As detail-oriented, I am a “numbers” person. I keep track of all kinds of numbers in my brain, some important, some useless.
But doing so doesn’t mean I am not savoring every last moment, capturing pictures in my mind and on the camera. Only moments ago, I was cutting up carrots, cabbage, and lettuce for the bushbucks and kudus. They love the cool crispness and moisture in the vegetables. It’s one of those daily tasks I do with love.
Warthogs don’t care for cabbage and lettuce. They prefer the sweetness of the carrots. Already this week, we’ve gone through 10 kg, 22 pounds of carrots. The most recently purchased huge bag contained many small and large carrots with many pieces that I didn’t have to cut for the smaller bushbucks, like Holy Moley, Big Spikey, Little Spikey, and Baby. They savor every morsel.
The wildebeests, kudus, and warthogs can easily chew an entire carrot, but a few in the bag were so large I cut them to avoid a possible choking hazard.
Yesterday, when I tossed carrots to Little and his new girlfriend, Mom and Babies, one carrot landed in the cement pond, now filled with sand, dirt, and rocks. The carrot landed in a tight spot. Last night, Little knocked off almost every large boulder surrounding the cement pond, intended as a border, but could not get to it.
This morning, he remembered that the carrot was there and again tried to get to it. Success! He managed to get the hard-to-reach carrot. I can imagine Little thinking about that carrot all night long. That’s Little for you! He’s quite the “pig.” I suppose at times in my old life, and I may have thought about a remaining piece of a pie in the fridge and finally got up in the morning to eat it with my cup of coffee. Did that make me a pig? I suppose. We all have our various food obsessions.
Tom is on a salty, roasted peanut kick right now. We purchased good-sized bags of peanuts on Monday, and two are left. Indeed, by the end of the weekend, they will be gone. Since I began a low-carb way of eating in August 2011, improving my health so much that we decided to travel the world. I’ve only had a few occasions where I have “cheated.”
Please don’t give me credit for a tremendous amount of self-control and discipline. I have been highly motivated. If I went back to the typical American low-fat, high-carb diet, undoubtedly in no time at all, I would be in pain and unable to continue on our journey. That’s how this significant change worked for me. It may not work for everyone. (However, I am not exempt from experiencing painful conditions, such as my current painful dry socket from a tooth extraction ten days ago. Nope, it’s not better yet).
With this degree of motivation, it’s been relatively easy for me to give up my old food addictions, such as; eating a big bowl of high-carb, fat-free, sugar-free ice cream at night after dinner or eating high carb, high sugar winter squash with dinner almost every night, which was an excellent way to get full, while eating piles of green vegetables with small amounts of lean protein. It kept my weight down but made me have high blood sugar and be pre-diabetic.
If I ate like that now, I’d surely be diabetic based on a solid propensity from family genetics. My blood pressure and blood sugar spike if I eat too many vegetables, unsweetened Greek yogurt (which I love but don’t eat), and fruit. I suppose I am one of few who checks these readings every week to ensure I am doing ok. After all, I have coronary artery disease, which is exacerbated by high blood pressure and high blood sugar. I am trying to stay alive. No food is worth increasing my risk of a heart attack or stroke.
On the other hand, Tom naturally has shallow blood pressure and blood sugar. He can eat anything he wants with little impact on his blood sugar or blood pressure. His family history is primarily longevity and good health. Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t gain weight when eating high carb and sugary foods. Like everyone else, he can easily suffer from the effects of excess weight and body fat, and other conditions commensurate with being overweight.
At 4:00 pm (1600 hrs), we’re heading over to Rita and Gerhard’s for sundowners. Their holiday home is located on Hornbill, a house we rented while here in 2013/2014. I won’t be drinking any wine today and haven’t for days since I am on pain medication for the dry socket. Hopefully, it will heal soon, and I can enjoy being pain-free and back to my “old self” once again.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, September 23, 2020:
 |
| We posted this photo one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #184. The Golden Temple Amritsar, India, is seen through a decorative archway on the religious grounds of the historic Sikh location. Please click here to see more photos from Amritsar. Please click here for more on the year-ago post. |