Things Are Looking Up

Today, a miracle happened: I woke up in our new flat, stepped into the living room, the guest bedroom, and the study, and did not see a SINGLE cardboard box. Then I walked into the kitchen and saw . . . approximately 89 mostly flattened cartons jammed into the space between the wall and the refrigerator. 

So now you know how I spent my weekend.

But wait (I hear you thinking), how did we get from Patrick’s near-death experience to packing cartons?

In brief: On Sunday, January 27, Patrick had emergency surgery for an aortic dissection in Paris. He spent 38 days in the hospital, 15 of them in intensive care, and 11 of those on a respirator. What can I say? It was sheer hell. On March 5, he was transferred to a rehab facility near our house. That’s where he is now.

Meanwhile, we moved to a new flat.

Not to whine, but I haven’t had a lot of time to write blog posts. Now that we are more or less settled, and P is on the mend, all that is going to change. And when P comes home, which could be next week, I am going to not only write blog posts, but also finish editing David Rich’s revised edition of Myths of the Tribe, edit one or two other books, spray the corners of our new flat with a product called Bang, redo the shower to prevent falls, resume water aerobics, comb my hair more often, reglue several wooden chairs, and cook nourishing meals in our new kitchen.

The kitchen isn’t really a kitchen yet, but it does have a two-burner hotplate and a microwave, which is more than our kitchen in Arusha had.

Meanwhile, I have spoken with a Mr. Tyminsky about bathroom showers and kitchen stoves, and I have even been to a kitchen and bathroom store with my friend Mary, who knows way more about renovating a domicile than I do.

Henny Plunkett, from the Crossroads choral group, is coming to take the cardboard boxes this afternoon because she is moving back to England.

Spring is coming, the magnolias are blooming, and things are looking up.

Love, Sadie
PS: Tom drew the little elephant in the photo, many years ago, and made the frame out of a piece of cardboard from a Tanzanian brewery (Ndovu) and bits of pasta. Patricia Tobaldo, the Argentinean painter mentioned in Our House in Arusha, painted the big elephant and friends.