Last night, with eight of us at a big table on the veranda at Jabula, I had planned to take some photos. In my excitement to be seated with three of my dear female friends, Rita, Lynne, and Janet, I was so distracted that my photos didn’t come out so well. We plan to take better photos at my birthday gathering next Sunday, February 20, at Jabula, when we are hosting dinner and drinks for 12 of us.
Mick, Gerhard, Steve, and Tom were seated at the opposite end of the table, although we all shared in the conversation at times. This is a lively group of travelers, each couple with countless adventures and passions for the wild, nature, and stunning scenery.
Lynne and Mick, and Steve and Janet live on the small English island of Jersey. They are all avid birders. Lynne and Mick just returned from a fantastic “birding” cruise, fulfilling a dream of seeing and photographing several species new to them. Janet and Lynne, who live five minutes from one another on the island, shared their stories of swimming together in the cold ocean in the early morning hours in Jersey during high tide.
The conversation was so lively. At times we were all talking at once. I even found myself rudely interrupting when I usually am more gracious. I will work on that!
As mentioned in yesterday’s post and as shown in the above image, tonight, we’re heading back to Jabula, just the two of us, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, which is actually on Monday. But, most establishments acknowledge the special day on Saturday night instead of Monday when operating at a lighter staff during the pandemic. We never mind going back two nights in a row.
On top of that, today is the third anniversary of my triple cardiac bypass surgery. On February 11, 2019, I posted the following from our link here to inform our readers that there wouldn’t be a post for a week or more. I wrote a quick blurb to say there would be a full post the next day. As it turned out, I didn’t do another post until February 23, when finally I left the hospital in Nelspruit with a massive recovery ahead of me.
But, the power was out the next full day, and it was so hot, and I was in such pain that I wondered how I’d make it through the day. Wearing the mandatory compression stockings in the 104F, 40C made life miserable. There was no place to get comfortable due to the pain, and the heat only worsened matters.
Finally, on February 25, 2019, I wrote my first full post since the surgery, as shown here. When I reread that post this morning, I couldn’t believe how hard it was, but between Tom’s loving caregiving and Louise’s thoughtfulness, somehow, I got through it. You can read more about it on the post if you’d like.
Of course, I am grateful on this date, which patients on Facebook refer to as their “heartaversary.” Ironically, tonight we’re celebrating the heart concentric Valentine’s Day.
We just found out that the power is out tonight at Gate 1, which doesn’t impact us since we’re on the Gate 2 side. But, Jabula is located on the Gate 1 side, and if power isn’t restored by 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs, they may not be able to host tonight’s Valentine’s event. As always, we’ll play it by ear and decide what to do later.
Have a great day!
Photo from one year ago today, February 12, 2021
