Today, a Saturday, early Spring in Southern Turkey!
Blossoms, fresh leaves, wild in the soil plants, coming through all around. The street is totally empty! Turkey is again in a 100% lock down, for everyone! The 3rd consequetive weekend.
At the same time the Holy month of RAMAZAN started yesterday, ie daily fasting between sunrise and sundown!
Not easy! Very very difficult in fact, this entire situation for everyone! We just have to see it through, everyone NOT struck by this ghastly COVID.19 attack. But we are LUCKY!
Everyone infected, everyone in IC, everyone who lost loved ones meanwhile are seriously suffering, grieving!
And: all doctors, nurses, everyone busy 24/7 saving lives, for weeks, endless weeks, day in day out: they have no time to do anything but: stay on their feet, try to sleep a few hours, and plod on!
I wrote that down TO REMIND MYSELF of this! I am just *waiting*, waiting, making the best of it! Locked in as a 65+ er now on my day 39 *in splendid isolation*!
The interesting thing is: and all that is mostly *psychological* of course: Usually I am not *going anywhere*! I mean most of my time, I am at home! I am not an *on-the-go* busy busy career person, travelling to/fro office/home, on a business trip, nor on a holiday with husband, the kids!
I used to have a life like that! Not enough hours in the day! A normal, albeit stressful life! Not at all bad, quite nice actually, although at some stage, that became BORING! Yes! Just plain BORING!
So…at some moment in my life: I decided to make a drastic change: I began studying Alternative Holistic Medicine! Yes! From a busy travelling around the world woman, I became a student, but the first 4 years TOGETHER with that international stressful and highly paid business career!
Then…I made the transition, I opened my own Holistic Health clinic, focussing on consulting individuals in my local area about health, also DIET, and WEIGHTLOSS. I had quite a few machines: whatever was available and affordable, and my study and reference books! NO COMPUTERS, nothing as we know it now! No Internet, no searchengines, and no Social Media.
The clock cannot be turned back! Not for me, not for anyone! Those days as I described were fantastic NORMAL days, in *those days*. NOW, looking back on about 60 years: the first half of those 60 years were as I typed down above!
The following 30 years: I definitely stepped out of the first 30, and my COMFORT ZONE!
The following 30 years: I began living in Southern Turkey, where I am still living! These years: say: I consider that part of my life also *a block* of 30, I have NOW completed, are BEHIND ME. YES! It does NOT mean, by no means, that I am *dead yet*. NO. Most certainly not!
My way of dealing with the current COVID.19 GLOBAL pandemic is most certainly *my way* to make up a certain balance of my life!
I have *done* just about everything people dream of, people want to do. I also had all the great opportunities to do, realize this! I am not restless, anxious to *go anywhere* simply because I have been *everywhere*! Not everywhere, literally of course, but in more countries, many more foreign cities, villages, and many times too, than most! I did a quiz the other day, you see, a photographer made it up, so I checked off the boxes! Wow, I thought…. have I been in an awful lot of countries, and places.
Yes! Never *on holiday*, always as a professional, flying or driving, even by rail, to a certain meeting, a trade fair, my headoffice in HONG KONG, or to: business appointments! Leaving my family at home, well taken care of, and my husband there to *be there* for the kids!
Always ALONE. I drove myself to the airport, parked the car in the below the airport garage, went up, checked in, waited in the lounge, always had a novel with me, and stacks and stacks of business documents!
Always ALONE! Not *alone* as in FEELING alone, no! Never!
In those days: you needed some COINS for a quick in the lounge phone call! To say bye bye to husband, or the kids! NO ELECTRONIC devices, video, zoom, skype, nothing like that! Unimaginable! Not one younger person has ever had those experiences!
I began flying in DAKOTA’S, (DC.3’s) max. 32 passengers! 1961, then: DC.4’s, DC.6’s, DC.7s. Those were all Piston engine, benzine, airplanes! After that: the first JET plane, a DC.8! just landed at Amsterdam airport! We all ran out, to have a LOOK at that HUGE BIRD . WOW! You could actually WALK underneath it! Incredible!
You could even SMOKE in an airplane! Cigarettes! No pipe or cigars though! YES! I am that old!
That *bird* had just magically come from the USA, of course! It had flown across The Atlantic, non-stop! Straight from the manufacturer, the DOUGLAS CORPORATION!
My last impressive non-stop flight, only 10 hours! WOW, non-stop from HONG KONG, 1988 or so, to Amsterdam: was nice! No in-between bothersome landings! How I disliked these!
And home! Home sweet home! The family, husband, the kids, always bringing presents from some EXOTIC places, in the Far East, from the Orient! Things we did not have then, back in The Netherlands!
Ending this 25th April 2020 reflection: I have had the best of the best! I can reflect. I can dive into my memories! I have loved every bit of my life! And: NOW: I am still LOVING MY LIFE, although these last 30 years, living in Southern Turkey, entirely ON MY OWN, have been a most unusual experience!
Definitely: a LEARNING experience!
As a Western independent woman: an experience!
What did I learn: where am I going, how to proceed? For the moment: sitting it out, and make the best of it! Making plans: yes, of course ! I have no idea what opportunities may arise! But: they shall.
From home, my safe place, until the next typing down: my FEELINGS.
Kaya Koy, near Fethiye, Mugla, TURKEY, Saturda
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