Remember there’s the old song “500 Miles” by Peter, Paul and Mary? Well, I’m flying 11,494 miles, not to a lost love, but to get a COVID vaccination in California. Because if I stay here in South Africa I might be waiting until next year - or even maybe for ever - as the rollout has barely started here. I was planning to go back in June, anyway, so I just brought it forward a month.

I so want life to get back to some semblance of normalcy. I want to see my friends and family - and not at a social distance. And the only way I see this happening is to follow the science and vaccination results and get vaccinated. I just don’t understand people who are dead set against it (and who probably think I’m nuts to do this), I simply cannot go along with all these conspiracy theories of implanted microchips and other off-the-wall theories which make absolutely no sense.

For heaven’s sake, just do it! Get the damn shots as soon as you can! It’s being so selfish not to, as it’s a proven fact that the vaccines protect and reduce transmission. If you don’t care about get the crud, then think of the others around you! And for those who think “it’s just flu” the hundreds of thousands currently dying in India can attest to the fact that IT IS NOT JUST FLU!

One of the excuses I hear used is that the vaccines were developed too fast. Yes, and we are so lucky that technology and science have progressed so fast and far that these brilliant scientist were able to produce these life saving vaccines. In record time.

Throwback…

And on the science and technology note: As I was sitting on the veranda here in South Africa, in the warm autumn sun with my iPad on my lap, I watched, live, as the SpaceX capsule safely delivered the four astronauts who had been at the International Space Station for 168 days, home. Landing in the Gulf of Mexico waters off Florida, I couldn’t help going back in my mind to 1969 when I was sitting in a little beach house/shack on the edge of Charlotte Amalie Bay in the Virgin Islands. We (Randy and I) had been invited over to Tom and Nancy Carlin’s to watch the moon landing! (Conspiracy theories around that, too!) We puttered over from the boat in the marina in our little dinghy, pulling it up on the beach and with beers in hand, sat in front of the old black and white TV and watched Neil Armstrong take “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The picture was so snowy it was difficult to see, but we could make it out.

Thinking back, I can only marvel how far we have come in such a relatively short space of time. And the giant leaps that have been made in science and technology and knowledge, in general!

Discoveries are exponential, building on each other to get us to how scientist have been able to create vaccines so quickly.

With just over 2 weeks until I leave, I’ve been going through my “stuff” and realize I really haven’t added much since I got here, except plants and fabrics! Fabrics will be packed away and I’ll take Sue’s sewing machine back to her, as I don’t want to leave anything valuable that could disappear while I’m away.

Hopefully, I’ll only have one suitcase and a carryon and I ordered clothes online to be delivered to Ryan’s! The clothes here are not appealing at all! They are designed with our local population in mind and are definitely not anything that I want to wear! I have made a few things, but don’t know how they will go over in the US. The pants are made from wild, bold African prints and are very wide and loose, so cool in the hot and sticky summer here. As they don’t take up a lot of space will take them and if I don’t wear them, well…oh well…

My Rapid Antigen test is booked for the day before my flight instead of the day of. I decided I should give myself a little breathing room as things don’t always operate as advertised here. I’ll drop my rental at the airport which is great so I don’t have to ask anyone to take me!

Not too many adventures recently. I did go to an amazing place called the Grand Exotic which looks like it came together randomly but was actually planned that way! It’s a really fun place, with crazy, sari-covered walls and floors and random antiques from the owners’ previous antiques store. Beautiful gardens and we sat out on the veranda and enjoyed a very pleasant lunch.

The last week was a bit hairy as there were issues with the underwear site which we finally managed to find a way around. But it took hours and hours of trying to get through bots which don’t translate English well! But I think we are almost there and I will have a bit more time on my hands this week when we have a “girls” get together as a “see you soon” thing for me!

17 Days and counting…