We haven’t had a TV in the bedroom in so long; we can’t recall. I go to bed an hour or two before Tom but prefer not to watch anything on the TV since it keeps me awake if I find a good show. Instead, I play with my phone until dozing off. I can’t believe I slept over ten hours last night, according to my Fitbit. I’m still feeling tired after my recent heart crisis.
This morning, we went for our walk after breakfast, and as much as I struggled to walk very far, we could double the distance we did yesterday. Upon returning to the house, I got two loads of laundry started. It’s fantastic to do laundry indoors and use a dryer, although I prefer to hang up my tops on a rack in the laundry room that may quickly wear out in the dryer over time.
Our social life begins tonight when we head out to a live entertainment venue in one of the village areas, which also has several restaurants nearby so we can dine after the live music. We’re hoping to meet people at the music event, but it’s entirely possible we won’t, and we’ve prepared ourselves for that possibility.
We tend to reach out to strangers, especially after being in Marloth Park for so long, where it’s always welcomed. However, we don’t know the nature of people here yet and may be pleasantly surprised or not. We’ll play it by ear and hope for the best.
On Monday next week, Tom’s nephew Kevin and his wife Kristi are visiting us in the early afternoon. They won’t be staying overnight but plan to stay for an early dinner and would prefer to dine out than dine in. We were more than willing to make a nice dinner, but they insisted eating out would be fine since they wanted to experience the area as well. That makes it a lot easier for me, which right now is a plus since I’m not entirely back to feeling like usual.
On Friday next week, Karen and Rich are coming and staying overnight, and I will be cooking dinner. It will be a lot easier to prepare a meal in the air-conditioned comfort of this house than in the heat of South Africa, always with the challenge of batting off the flies that love to hover over any protein source during food prep. I’ll pace myself and take it easy.
Ah, I am well aware of all the conveniences here, although it doesn’t temper my enthusiasm to return to Marloth Park in 14 months. Every location has its pluses and minuses, and over the past ten years, we have learned to adapt to the circumstances wherever we may be.
Right now, I am following the activities of mating birds. I’ve yet to discover what type of birds they are, although I looked online extensively. They have a nest in a bush in the garden, close to the house, and they have chicks sitting in the nest waiting to be fed. We watch the parents head into the bush with a worm in their mouths and then hear the chicks chirping loudly the moment the parent reappears, which is very often.
With Tom’s lousy hearing, he doesn’t hear the chirping, but I love every moment. I doubt we’ll see much other wildlife here unless an alligator walks down the road, which is known to happen.
Speaking of alligators, or shall I say crocodiles, there was a croc walking down a dirt road in Marloth Park a few days ago, and someone posted a video on Facebook. That reminded us how much we love the bush and that no modern conveniences will keep us away.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, May 5, 2013:
No photo was posted on this date while we had a poor signal on a cruise. For the story posted, please click here.
