Looking for an Ordinary Post?

You'll have to look elsewhere.....

We had a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday--just like most Americans 'round the world.

It was a wonderful day. I loved every step of the cooking and baking process. We had six visitors (four volunteers & another couple who live nearby) which, in my opinion, makes Thanksgiving what it is--sharing what we have with others. This year we had 2 Germans, 1 Englishman, 1 Indian-Zambian, & 1 Dutch lady. Our sixth visitor is American. 

Then, I got out of traveling to Mansa because I was worn out (& sick again! truth be told) and so Jasmine took my place. She took Ernest with her who was impressed by "so many trucks!".

All of this is fairly ordinary, right? Thanksgiving dinner. Big shopping day on Friday.

OK, so in order to keep my credibility, I'll now blow the lid off ordinary.

As I type this, Tom is not home. 

The reason he's not home is because he is out working in his capacity as an honorary Wildlife Officer. A couple weeks ago, a hippo attacked a boat on the river near Kazembe and six people were killed. So, Tom and five other wildlife officers set out this morning to hunt a hippo. He left at seven this morning practically brimming over with testosterone. I waved him off with a smile and a final warning that me must NOT let himself be killed.

Did you know that hippos are the deadliest animals in Africa? It's true! and very scary.....

This afternoon Tom texted me to say that he was disappointed because they hadn't had a single sighting of hippos the entire day. I sympathized with him outwardly and inwardly did a little dance that he was still safe.

Then he told me they were still out on the water and wouldn't come in until something happened. Man! I was so close....

Finally at 6:30 in the evening I got a text that said they had shot a hippo and now just had to wait for the corpse to rise from the murky depths. I'll leave it to your imagination what causes it to rise. Yuck.

Later this evening, Tom called to say he was going to have to spend the night out on one of the floating islands on the river. He sounded miserable and hungry. Poor guy. Apparently the one peanut butter sandwich and the little packet of peanuts and raisins just wasn't enough to keep him going all day. He was going to scrounge around for some food from the fishermen who live seasonally on those islands.

I'm still praying for his safety. In the morning they'll need to collect the hippo and take it to shore. I hope nothing goes wrong and no other hippos show up. I'm sure Tom is taking plenty of photos and will have lots of material for a blog post later on. I'll link up to it when he does.

So that was my Saturday. How is your weekend progressing?