The Journey Inward

The kids had off on Friday so that we could have professional development. In the afternoon, we got to choose a wellness activity. I chose pottery. We were supposed to make a votive holder, but I’ve been propagating plants like crazy, so I made a little vase. We worked up in the art room with our art teacher. Admin had given us a luncheon that day complete with wine, so we brought the extra up to our work session.

After school, my friend Ellen took me up to the Bronkhorstspruit dam where she has a weekend house. It is about an hour east of Pretoria. We went through a toll booth that was just a credit card tap. It was right on the water at the curl-de-sac. . The house was wonderful and the location serene.

After we settled in, she made us the best gin and tonic I’ve ever had, and we sat on the back patio, enjoying the sunset and chatting. Eventually, we brought some dinner out, as well. Later, we walked along the shore and visited some of her neighbors.

The next day I got up and went for a 5 mile walk around the resort. I also got a cup of coffee that admittedly came with frothy milk and sugar, but it was my first official cup of coffee ever! Ever!

Back at Ellen’s house, we visited with her neighbor, a delightful girl between Gillian and Gigi’s age who is studying to become a teacher.

That neighbor and her dad let me borrow their kayak and I rowed out on the dam for an hour and a half. Ellen texted to say that it looked like a storm was moving in, which confused me because it was so nice and sunny. I looked back over my shoulder only to see huge storm clouds rolling in! I was pretty far away, so I rowed like a maniac across the lake, avoiding the jet skis and motor boats, back to the house.

We had drinks and dinner at the neighbors house. I hadn’t done shots in years! The dinner was a chicken curry that was delicious! I also tried the beer my secret Santa had given me. It was quite strong! As usual, I asked lots of questions about everyone’s experiences in South Africa and outside. Ellen is from Belgium and she shared quite a bit, as well. Clarence had a lot of questions about the United States. I absolutely adore these conversations!

They had told me some crazy ghost stories over dinner and even shown me pictures that really were very convincing! I took a picture of the dock on our walk home, but no ghosts!

The next morning, we chatted for a while on the back patio, and then I went for a shorter walk. The black buck I saw was the first of its kind that I had ever laid eyes on!

Michaela took me for a tour of the dam on her jet ski. It was so much larger than I had imagined. She was a great tour guide and it was so much fun to be out on the water and running over the waves! She took Ellen out for a ride after me and then she let me drive!

It was a wonderful weekend and I was grateful for the invite!

All throughout the weekend, I’d been hearing from my friends and family about the massive snowstorm moving in. It was so surreal to see their pictures and contrast it to my sunny day on the water!

I got to talk to two out of three girls, had a Zoom call with three of my teacher friends and then did another zoom with my brothers and sister. My niece sent pictures of her adorable daughter, enjoying the snow day!

Later that night, I was opening up a box with the pieces of my new dresser, and it slipped out of my hands and fell on my big toe! Very painful! Right on the nail! I did a few rounds of icing, then took it upstairs, piece by piece and assembled it.  G sent me a picture from the Seattle Seahawks game, where her boat got to help spread out the American flag during the National Anthem. The players came over to shake their hands and they got free tickets to the game.