I am in the bedroom at almost noon with the air con and the fan on, trying to cool down. I spent over an hour in the kitchen preparing tonight’s dinner while it was 97F, 36C with outrageous high humidity. It will top 100F, 38C, or more on a bright sunny day in an hour or so.
With no air-con anywhere in the house except for the two bedrooms, it is the only place to hide away to cool off. I’d never tackle such a cooking challenge in this heat without air-con in my old life. It would have warranted a dinner out, for sure. But, in Marloth Park, many of the restaurants don’t have suitable cooling with doors always wide open, so there’s little relief to be found there.
The dinner I’m preparing today requires a trip to the little local market to purchase mushrooms, lettuce, and tomatoes. We’ll have a low-carb dish called Low Carb Mushroom Burger Scramble, a favorite, although it presents as one-pan winter comfort food. But, this morning, I made two pans, one for each of us, enough to last for three dinners.
Thus, regardless of continuing heat, I won’t have to cook for the next few days, only making a salad and rice for Tom. That’s a good plan, especially since we’d like to go to Kruger in the next few days, once the temperature drops, which is expected by Tuesday or Wednesday before all the holidaymakers arrive for the Christmas holiday when Kruger will be packed.
It is hard to spot much wildlife during ultra-hot days. Even our usual wildlife visitors to our garden are sparse on the hot days. This morning, several bushbucks, two sets of Mom and Piglets, and Broken Horn stopped by. But now, as the day wears on and the temperature rises, the only visitor we’re seeing is Frank and The Misses, who stop by once every three or four hours. They, like us, tend to stay undercover when it’s so hot.
After returning from the little market, they stood at the screen door to the veranda, looking inside the house, wondering where we’d gone. We always laugh when we see them there, walking back and forth impatiently from time to time. We love those birds! Who would think we’d adore these chicken-like creatures as much as we do?
A few minutes ago, Tom called out to me. The mongooses were here! Lately, they have been stopping by each day. We had bones left from Tom’s ribs from last night’s dinner at Jabula, which they always love and also paloney. Tom cut up the paloney into bite-sized pieces and tossed them into the garden, far enough apart to prevent them from fighting over the food.
Based on numerous reliable sources online, the variant Omicron is rising in South Africa, doubling every 2½ days. This is also occurring in many other parts of the world. It’s possible that soon, all cases of Covid-19 in South Africa will be Omicron. If that is factual, with lesser illness from this variant, this could be a good sign. We are hopeful but remain diligent in our efforts to stay healthy.
Today will be a quiet day for us. Most likely, we’ll spend the next few hours cooling off in the bedroom. By 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs, when the temperature begins to drop, we’ll head outdoors and enjoy a few hours on the veranda, although according to the weather report, it won’t get below 90F, 32C, until after 7:00 pm, 1900 hrs.
Tonight, we’ll hunker down in the cool of the bedroom, streaming a few shows such as Dexter, New Blood, and Yellowstone. We hope you have a pleasant Sunday during the holiday season and always.
Photo from one year ago today, December 12, 2020:
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| This photo was posted one year ago while we were in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #264. Just like that, the zebra was on the veranda at the Orange house in 2018. For more photos, please click here. |