Last night, sundowners weren’t quite the same without a glass of my light red wine. Still, once the conversation started at Rita and Gerhard’s house, I forgot all about it and was content with my mug of iced tea, as I’ve been the past few weeks since the awful tooth extraction two weeks ago resulting in a dry socket.
Miracle of all miracles, I am better today. Although there is still some pain, it’s diminished considerably from the horrors of a few days ago. When Tylenol (Paracetamol) and Advil (Austin) stopped working on Monday, I switched to the pain meds the dentist had prescribed, which gave me good relief for about five hours, resulting in waking up during the night when they wore off. I barely slept two or three hours most nights over the past eleven days.
Finally, I am off of those dreadful drugs and almost feel like my “old self.” Hopefully, in a day or two, I will be free of the pain. Thank goodness, I went to the dentist in Marloth Park when Dr. Singh was on holiday. She treated the socket, which helped tremendously, but it took a few days to feel the improvement.
Tonight, we’ll have dinner at Jabula with Rita and Gerhard, leaving us with only three more Jabula Friday nights until we depart on October 21. They will leave here on October 15, returning to their home in the US for the holiday season. Tomorrow evening we’re heading to Kathy and Don’s for dinner. In the morning, we’ll make a dessert to bring.
Some foreign nationals that stay here for part of the year leave the park during the holiday season since it’s crowded with tourists and outrageously sweltering in December. Those realities don’t scare us. We’ll be back in December 2022, a mere 14 months after we leave, a few days before Tom’s birthday.
It is always such a joy to meet up with our readers, as we have on many occasions throughout the world. One of our loyal readers, Lisa, and her husband wrote a few days ago and plan to be in Marloth Park when we return in 2022. That was how we met Rita and Gerhard, who’ve become such dear friends. They’d been reading our site for years and decided to visit Marloth Park, renting holiday homes from Louise as well.
Little did we know or expect, we’d become such close friends with people who happen to come to a location due to reading our posts. What a fantastic side benefit we’ve been blessed to experience!
But then again, we’ve been blessed in many ways, and we often pinch ourselves when we take a moment to reflect. It’s times like the past few weeks that it’s easy to forget how grateful we are when we are distracted by illness or inconvenience.
We are grateful for many reasons; the first, we are together, and we never forget it for a day. Secondly, we have the love and support of family and friends as we continue on our journey. Thirdly, we have the carefully managed financial resources to continue to travel for as long as we physically are able.
No, it’s not always easy, and like most people in their 60s and 70s, we have setbacks, some age-related, some not. But, above all, most importantly, for now, we are experiencing good health. We’re grateful we’ve been able to avoid contracting Covi-19. However, we’ve both suffered from other viruses that made recovery time-consuming and complicated in the past year.
Through it all, we’ve stayed strong and resilient. We have no regrets. And we pray for more time and good health to allow us to carry on, fulfilling a dream neither of us ever knew we had until 2012, when we decided to embark on this journey, never aware of how long we’d be able to continue.
Here we are almost nine years later, amid many trials, and yet in 27 days, we’re on the move again. Yes, it’s a temporary foray back to the US for a variety of reasons, but a few months later, we’ll be back into the “world” to explore its many wonders.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
Photo from one year ago today, September 24, 2020:
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| One year ago, this photo was posted in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day # 185. Minutes before the sun descended from view in Sumbersari, Bali, in 2016. Before dark, the security guy visits our villa, turning on outdoor lights, returning at sunrise to turn them off. For more photos, please click here. |