Life Changes.

We have decided to move to the coast. Away from our children and grand-children. We got rid of everything and took just the things with us that we could fit in our Jeep and trailer and it included our two Rhodesian Ridgebacks. When you make a change like that, it brings you back to the essential things in life. What do I really need and what is just clutter. Some things just didn’t fit, no matter what I tried to do to force it into the little available space, so we made a small compromise and left these things with our children for safekeeping so that our grand-children will one day have some photographs and other artefacts to tell them about their ancestors.

The dogs, used to a life of free roaming on a game farm, had to be transported in the cramped space of a car, on a journey that would last around 11 hours. We had no idea how they would cope with the traveling and how we would handle them on the journey. Ziva, had once before broken loose, when as a young dog, I took her to the vet and she broke loose from her choke strap. From there on, there was no trust between us, no matter what I did. As soon as I go close to her she will run away and hide from me or any other person close by. She would not allow any strap to be put around her neck. We realised we would need to tranquilise the dogs for the trip as any other option would raise the risk of one or both of them breaking loose and getting run over by a car. This posed another challenge, as no vet would supply us with a schedule 5 tranquiliser without seeing the dogs, and there was no way to get this little lady to a vet. Eventually I cornered Ziva in the bathroom and closed the door and succeeded in putting the choke strap around her neck. We still had a week before the trip, so we thought we would eventually succeed in attaching the leash and teaching her to walk with it. Well, let me just say, that didn’t happen. She wouldn’t allow me or my wife even close to her if we had the strap with us – even if we had it hidden.

Eventually, I convinced my vet who knew the dogs to give them the tranquilizer if I signed a waiver, which I duly did. The worst part of the trip was getting the dogs in the cramped car, but thereafter, the whole trip was really without any problems.

We arrived at our new home without incident and let the dogs out. They barked at everything they heard or saw for the first day, and then started easing into the new environment.

The next step was to get them to walk on a leash. Rufus the big male, was never a problem and we got him to walk with us without any issues. Ziva gave me the run around again and eventually, I decided to just forcefully hook the leash onto the choke strap. She didn’t take that too well and even tried to bite me, but I remembered seeing a program where a dog whisperer explained how you must subdue the dog to you so that she can learn that you are the leader of the pack. I therefore proceeded and after another 10 minutes, Ziva was towing the line and walking on her leash. It took the best part of the first walk to get her to become comfortable and when I released her after the walk she cowered in a bush and avoided me completely. After a day’s rest it was time to do it again and this time she eventually sat down so I could put the leash on. This time when we came back I made a concerted effort to work with her until she came into the house with me and then gave her a cookie as a treat. She loved it and for the rest of that evening she followed me around like a shadow. She still shivers with fear every morning and her teeth chatters like a vibrator but I have now twice taken her on walks where I released her and she allowed me to hook her up again, so we are making good progress.

So with all these things happening and trying to get a good always-on internet connection and a lot of other things that needs to be done when you move to a new place, I was quite busy and have so far only been able to get on my bike twice.

Surprises.

The local doctor knows me quite well from previous visits and during an event years ago where he assisted my brother with a severe kidney stone we became quite well acquainted with each other. We even braaied together (also known as a barbeque) one night and had some whiskeys. I also visited his practice on previous visits to the town and we always chatted about another passion that we share (motor cycles). As it was time for both myself and my wife to get our six-monthly prescriptions renewed, we decided to make an appointment with him through his receptionist. I decided not to announce our visit as I wanted to surprise him, knowing that the last time he saw me I was a huge man.

As he entered the reception room, I noticed he gave me a sideways glance, but there was no flicker of recognition to be seen. I asked him if he remembered me and he said, no, not at all. He then walked out, came back and looked into my eyes and asked me if I was my brother’s brother. When I confirmed this he walked out and asked us soon afterwards to come into his consulting room. His first words to me then were: “My gosh, but you have lost a lot of weight since I last saw you.” I laughed and then we carried on with the conversation with him asking a lot of questions about how I achieved my weight loss.

Later on my brother who knows him very well and sees him on a frequent basis, broke out in laughter when I shared the encounter with him. Seeing the surprise on people’s faces when they see me again for the first time after my fairly severe weight loss, always leaves me with great amusement and, to be honest some enjoyment.

Wonderful encounters.

This morning I went for my second ride on the bike since I arrived here a week ago. With all the things happening and also having to walk the dogs, things were just not working out for more riding.

 

 

 

 

 

On my ride I saw a gentleman sitting on a little bench with his bicycle lying a little distance from him. I greeted him and we started talking. He invited me to come and sit with him and soon we were talking like old friends. I learnt that he is a retired physician that has been living and working in the area for over 40 years. His daughter then walked up to us and he introduced us. As we spoke, I told him how my bicycle and weight loss changed my life and in the discussion I learnt that he actually listened to my interview on Radio Sonder Grense with Amore Bekker, almost a year earlier. We parted friends and he invited me and my wife to come and visit at his home.

As I came home from my ride, I pondered all of this and I felt inspired to write about this. I realised once again how my life has changed and how it has changed the destination that my wife and I are on. I remembered how I had a very low expectation of life and my future and how I felt as if life was not going to end well or endure for too long. Today we are at a place where we enjoy life to its fullest, taking long walks with our dogs, walking along the beach, cycling and soon we will take up a new activity when we start rowing on the local river.

All of this reminds me how the decision to loose weight changed my life and affected not only my health, but also my spiritual experience of life and the decisions that we are now making about our future. How when I started on this journey, I believed that I was at the end of my life, and how I am now planning to start new ventures and initiatives. Most importantly we are having immense fun on this journey.