Happy New Year!! I guess
I am a little delayed on that statement.
But not late. I’m never
late. Maybe on a different time schedule
than others around me, but never late!
Just as I am never lost either. I
may not be on the exact course or in the exact place I had expected to be at a
given moment, but I am not lost. Just
temporarily on an alternate way. I will
eventually get to my end point, and in the meantime, might find some amazing
new road, or meet some amazing new people or see some amazing new sight that I
hadn’t even imagined or thought about. I
do have a general plan of timing and path in my life and work, but if it gets a
little altered, oh well, I go with the flow.
So, here I am flowing almost two months into 2019 and find
myself at the computer writing my Happy 2019 post! Exciting.
The way of my life. This last two
months has been so full of life, I don’t even know where to begin to tell it all. Several words can sum it up maybe. Exhilarating: doing zip-lines over deep valleys; coming
face to face with a very big elephant at my tent; meeting a cobra while I was
alone at the Ngurunit swimming pool; climbing on sky walks between trees and
over a pond with crocodiles in it. Awestruck: watching the sun and moon rise and set in beautiful surroundings; gazing at stars so bright they press one down to the earth while lifting one up to the heavens; seeing lions, elephants, oryx, gerenuk, ostriches, giraffe, Grevy
zebra, Fish Eagles, hippos, hyena and so many more birds and wildlife on my
many trips around Kenya with friends and my family; feeling the peace of nature
in my soul. Grateful: for time
spent with my kids visiting from USA for the holidays; for meeting up with so
many good friends from Kenya and other countries on their visits to Kenya; for
health and healing of myself and others; for projects that are going forward
and the chances I have to help communities.
Enjoyment: from Christmas and New Year's celebrations and a birthday party; from singing
and joy around campfires, by pools and on the veranda; from eating good food
with friends and family on so many occasions including Ethiopian at Habesha and
Abyssinia in Nairobi, fish at Trout Tree and local Kenyan at Bantu Lodge near Nanyuki, Swahili style at Lion King Bush Camp at Samburu
Reserve and cooking for ourselves anytime and anyplace; by visiting places I
love like Lake Turkana and Lake Naivasha; going to other fun places
like bowling, visiting a flower farm, meeting a weaver’s group, visiting animal
orphanages and hanging out at a primary school.
Exhausting: As much fun as
I have had, it has definitely been very tiring.
In two months, I’ve traveled, driving most of the time myself, over 5000
km (almost 3000 miles I think). Going from
Maralal to Ngurunit. Going from Ngurunit
to Nairobi and back again picking up kids for holidays. Then to Maralal after
the New Year and from there to Nairobi and back for holiday errands. Then back to Ngurunit. Then back to Nairobi. On some trips I got some help from my son or
my daughter taking the wheel. Then a return
to Maralal. Then friends arriving to
visit so back I go to Nairobi. A long
wonderful round-trip with them weaving around the country seeing the wonderful
sites. And I can’t forget all the side
trips. To Lake Turkana with the
kids. Driving around Nairobi to see fun
stuff. Zigzagging off the main road to
see the sights and meet people at Naivasha, Njabini and Gilgil. Hours of game drives looking for wildlife in
Samburu Reserve. Besides the driving
there was the late nights and early mornings.
Talking, singing, hiking, swimming and having a fabulous time. And I can’t forget that at times I had to
slip in a bit of work. Staying up late
to finish a proposal. Having meetings on
projects. Shopping and buying materials
and beads. It has been very exhausting,
but completely worth it.
That brings me to now.
Today I am in Maralal. Stationary
for a week and working on some important activities. Our Rotary borehole well project is approved
and going forward. I’m trying to get all
the bits and pieces coordinated and in order so that we can start
drilling. I have several new basket
orders for the Ngurunit Basket Weavers.
I’ve been sending beads and receiving baskets to work out how to ship. I also have several new Rotary projects that
I’m working on. Getting proposals into
shape. Teacher Resource Centers for
Marsabit and Samburu Counties. I’ve also
been working on getting my children’s book ready for publishing. Hopefully it can be ready for the end of
March printing. I have so many good
pictures I have taken over the last couple of months. I want to use those in different ways.
It has been an amazing start to 2019. I am looking forward to what the next months
will bring. I am starting to feel rested
up again and am grateful for that. I am
excited for more awe-inspiring exhilarating experiences to enjoy as the future
unfolds before me in my life as this new year continues! Until next time peace, joy and love to you
all!
