Back to normal, whatever that is
- Bob Hanna: Someday
- March 24, 2021
- 746
So after all that’s happened here in our part of Kentucky in the past few weeks — the ice storm, followed by the flooding, followed by the mudslides — it’s a matter of people helping people recover, and that’s what we’re seeing — just like the good people of Holmes County pull together in times of need. These disasters have created a lot of property damage.
If you’ve been to our neck of the woods, you know just what our roads are like. The newer highways are time-savers, like our state Route 7 south of Grayson or the newest addition to our travels back to Ohio — state Route 823, which cuts beautifully through the hills, bypassing Portsmouth to the southeast toward the Ohio River.
But the “ridge runner” roads here are wicked curvy with very few guardrails and dangerous, steep drop-offs. With the freeze/thaw winter followed by the heavy rains, many places along these ridges are collapsing, taking the roads with them, making them even more dangerous.
Amidst all of this chaos, our beloved 13-year-old Collie, Sable, had a stroke on the weekend of my non-birthday (leap year) while the whole family was visiting and had to be put down. We had a sad but unique opportunity to teach the grandchildren about life and death and buried her on Sanctuary Hill.
We still have a 4-year-old Yorker/Toy Fox Terrier female named Bexley, and we were not planning on getting another dog for a while until our neighbor called the other night, wanting to know if we were interested in getting another Collie. If you follow my Facebook page, you already know how that turned out. There’s something special about puppies. They just suck you in. Introducing our latest addition, Samson — a purebred Collie male complete with nonstop energy. Bexley took a few days to make friends but is progressing nicely.
Speaking of additions, we made a trip back up to Ohio to pick up two turkeys that Dan Clark from Millwood had mounted for me. These were taken in 2015 and 2019. Dan and I put our creative heads together to display one chasing the other off of our rafter beam in the cabin.
To add to the mix, our outfitter in Africa sent us an email saying our airline would not be resuming a direct flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg until June. Our second safari was scheduled for September 2020, but of course, the pandemic put a hold on everything. So we tentatively rescheduled our trip to this spring, as their rainy season ends in April and the thick brush of the Bushveld Region begins to dry up and allows better visibility to find the animals.
With the introduction of the newer strains of COVID-19, we still weren’t sure when we would be able to go. As of this week, Taryn and I have received our first dose of the vaccine and will get the second one in a couple weeks. When we checked with our agent, he told us the only restriction was we had to be tested 72 hours before flying both ways.
People have asked us if we are crazy, taking a trip at this time. “And going on safari in Africa isn’t?” is my reply. I don’t think the animals have it. My column is about living life to the max, even if it means taking some risks and trusting in God for protection.
When I called the airline, I asked if our flights were canceled. They told me that since resuming international flights to about 60% capacity, rescheduling passengers was a nightmare. But because I was on the phone, he would try to take care of us.
We have been scheduled to fly from Lexington to Amsterdam and then down to Johannesburg. Flying time each way is about 22 hours. Then we add another four hours driving time to camp northwest, 10 miles east of Botswana.
With the detour through Amsterdam, we were advised not to take our own guns, due to their strict policies, which actually saves us a lot of paperwork and hassle. Our outfitter will provide rifles for us for the safari.
Lesson for the day? Life has no guarantees. Live it. Enjoy it. God has put you here for a reason. Ask him to show you what that reason is and stop trying to find it on your own.
Love y’all.