Today was a blizzard and it's been so cold lately that memes such as "I'm not going outside until the temperature is above my age" and "wondering why I have chosen to live somewhere that hurts my face when I go outside" are humorously relevant.
The good news is it only gets better from here, at least daylight wise. Adding to the difficulty of winter is the strong darkness that pervades, but December 21st was the tipping point and we are heading towards longer days of daylight. Still I wouldn't mind following the birds and spending winter in Florida. Somewhere tropical. Hawaii perhaps. At least for a month.
Been so long not blogging have been to Kenya and back, and so while the winds of winter rage outside my window I shall tell a tale of a land far, far away. Lol.
Lots of rest, fun people and interesting experiences. Kenya. Everything was great, including all four airplanes (two there and two back).
While in Siaya their highest court nullified their recent presidential elections, so that was a pretty dominate theme.
Met a couple local politicians in Nakuru and that was interesting, and even attended a dowry negotiation. Preached in a couple churches, perhaps most memorably Mama Joan's in Siaya, which had no electricity. Not that you need electricity to preach the gospel. They said I was the first mzungu to speak in their church: I don't want to explain what that means so you will already have to know or do a little homework to understand.
I was also told our church here in the states helped pour the foundation of their church, so the concrete belongs to us, the House of Mercy Mission. Just kidding.
One of the most humorous moments was when we thought a tire might come off while touring Lake Nakuru National Park. This my fourth trip to Kenya I hoped to splurge a little and see some wildlife, lions preferably. Short on cash we decided to rough it with a certain vehicle and as the sounds of a tire scraping something became louder and louder, I began to have visions of being stranded in a safari park full of lions. We needed to escape and fast.
We saw all sorts of wildlife but no lions as we sped clankily toward the exit.
We didn't survive.
Just kidding.
As we bounced our way out of the park and to a nearby eatery, it just so happens (after eating) we discover a flat tire. Thank the Lord it did not go flat in the park. Don't know if I would have attempted changing it not knowing if a lion was hiding in the bush waiting to pounce.
We could have waited for someone else to change the tire besides me, and I am not trying to brag but everything was so easy and I think we broke a record changing it, faster than a NASCAR pit-crew. Perhaps it was my recent, previous flat-tire experience in Jersey that gave us an edge that day. Or perhaps angels were helping.
I'm leaning toward angels since the other tire, which happened to be on the opposite corner of the flat, did not fall off or strand us in the park.
Humorously I said to myself never again would I go on a safari without a good four-wheel drive. Lol. We were crazy but had fun as I remember another experience driving close to the lake to view flamingos.
We decided to chance-dodge mud pits. All exiting beside the driver, I proceeded to coach a path and the driver flew over the mud hazards.
What amused me most was a group of professional tourists photographing us as we made the daring dash. Lol. Just kidding but they were watching us.
I don't know what we were thinking, we could of just walked the rest of the way. But it was a jolly moment and we breathed our reward when a flock of flamingos soared across the lake. I am sure there was a hippo in the distance too. Should have brought binoculars, another lesson learned.
Well there you have it, a little taste of my adventures in Kenya: perhaps another day I'll share some media, photography playing a big part this trip.
Good night and God bless!
