“LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF ALL BRAN” - - SATURDAY 23RD AUGUST - KOKSIJDE TO DICKY BEACH

 

As the Small Faces reminded us “you wake up every morning and it’s there, it’s all about, enjoy it…”. I wonder if any of them had ever flown across the breadth of the planet, because if they had, they’d know it’s not just in the morning that you wake up, as your body clock refuses to accept messages from your brain. 

Here we are upside down and back to front, 16,344 km from where our phone last saw her AirPods, after losing a day and not sleeping for a couple more just for good measure.   We can’t thank the airline staff enough for their assistance on the way.  Despite our concerns, the means to overcome every obstacle seemed to materialise just as we needed it.

As we opened the front door of our house, we were of course confronted by the last obstacle between us and life at home, the staircase to our actual living space. The other of us made simple work of scooting up our stairs on her bottom while holding one leg above her shoulders in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a young contortionist we had once seen perform in Mongolia.   

We were grateful that our now completely depleted stocks of adrenaline had done their job and would have a chance to recover in their own good time, we could take a deep breath, relax and have a good lie down, or so we thought.  The time was just after nine, it was Thursday morning, so there was no harm in seeing if the Doctor had a cancellation.

By three, we’d caused said doctor some consternation, and had been referred to a specialist, by eight (PM) the specialist had reviewed our Dutch documents and ordered scans.  By midday Friday, barely twenty four hours after landing, arrangements had been made for one of us to have a nice rest in hospital along with another round of surgery on that miscreant foot of hers.

On the one hand, this was a bit disappointing, as the time clock on healing starts again next Tuesday, but on the other, it would appear to be another in a very long line of great luck that circumstances have allowed us to arrange hospital admissions, digest a ream of paperwork, obtain a wheel chair, shower seat other mobility accoutrements and a new pair of crutches, all before the sun had set for the third time since our arrival, even while our somehow keeping our heads just clear enough to do the job.

It’s fair to say that even with two of our brood to help with the heavy lifting as well as everything else, the reserve tank of energy is sitting on empty.  With just a dash of the same luck, when we wake up tomorrow it will be very late in the morning, perhaps too late even for a bowl of All Bran, and once again we can get on with enjoying all that we have around us.