Greetings from Africa!

I arrived in JoBurg at 10:30 am on Saturday, a little over two hours behind the original schedule. South African Air changed the equipment to be used for the flight at the last minute from a 747 to an Airbus, which had to stop for petrol en route (the 747 makes the whole trip in one jump). The seats on the Airbus are also considerably less nice than the 747, and there are fewer of them, so the flight was completely full (actually over booked). So I required great grace, and (of course) received it.

Rev. Ruth and her husband were there to greet me, having stayed overnight in JoBurg with family. This meant that their little car had three people, their luggage and my big luggage, but we managed to pack everything and everyone in. The seating for me reminded me of the flight, but it was wonderful to get home and very joyful for me, Erton and Lydia.

Everyone was telling me how terribly cold it had been the past few weeks, but then the day I arrived signaled the beginning of a warm spell. It still dips to below freezing every night, and I am learning to enjoy sleeping under enough blankets to actually feel HEAVY on me. By noon, though, the bright sunshine has warmed everything up nicely. I’ve gone walking the last two days in the late morning and gotten quite hot doing so. It feels good, though, and one cools down quickly inside the house. Early in the morning and at night it is cold inside, so I have developed a technique for capturing the heat from a small heater (see picture). I spread my tellit over me and the heater as I sit on my chair, and all the heat stays in the small space thus created. It gets very toasty in there quite quickly. Yum!

The other picuture is of the tree by the garage. This is the one with the dense leaves that everyone sits under in the summer. Almost all the leaves are gone now, and the branches do not become thin before ending, but rather resemble sausages. The overall effect is very strange, which may not be evident in the picture. There is another tree growing from the neighbor’s yard that sort of wraps around the back of our tree, and it has bright red flowers on it – now! It is very pretty, but also seems strange in the winter.

It was wonderful to be in America for a month and to see so many dear people. I hadn’t anticipated being so very busy, but again it was good. On the other hand my eyes are not very good at all. It is difficult to read this as I write it on the computer. Thankfully, there was a cancellation and my cataract extraction for the right eye is now scheduled for Monday morning (assuming the hospital is comfortable with all the insurance paperwork). My friend Hans (the optometrist) will lend me some reading glasses after the procedure until I can get an actual new prescription, and I am REALLY looking forward to being able to read comfortably again. Please pray that all goes well.

Tremendous thanks to everyone who showed me such warmth and hospitality while I was in the States.

Love from Africa

Lary

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