I finally sleep! For two weeks now I have been sleeping at night, almost without exception, as I can hardly remember from a time when I had no sleeping problems at all.
It’s just not in my own bed…
My husband and I are away for two weeks in Southwest Florida. I have no idea what it is, but somehow my head seems empty and my brain calm. I hardly suffer from racing thoughts and feel quite ‘zen’.
Even though it’s been a long time, it is a familiar place where we stay. The villa is where we stayed with our boys nine years ago. It seems like nothing has changed here since but a year and a half ago, Hurricane Ian tore through, leaving a path of destruction. We still see the damage here and there (very sad to see that some houses are simply abandoned), but we also see that a lot of work has been done to get everything back in order.
In 2015 and 2016 we were here in August and now we are here in April. That’s a hugh difference in weather conditions. April is a lot more pleasant in terms of temperature and humidity. We started with a lovely 20 to 25 degrees in the first week and in the second week the temperatures rose to 30 degrees. That is still very pleasant and it also makes the (heated) swimming pool feel a little less cold (luxury problem, I know).
The garden is surrounded by palm trees and other tropical greenery, including tropical birds. When you sit in the sun, at the edge of the swimming pool with your feet dangling in the crystal water, with rustling palm leaves and tropical bird sounds, soft splashing of water from the hot tub, in a very quiet environment, it is perhaps logical that you come to rest.
Just before the holiday my intestines had already completely calmed down, but that was not good at all! Because my vitamin D level turned out to be too low, I got a vitamin D boost from the GP and that was probably too much for my intestines. Since my gallbladder was removed I often have digestive problems anyway. That is partly why I often prepared my own food during this holiday; fresh, green, easily digestible and with lots of fibre.
We also went out for dinner a few times and I tried some delicious new fish dishes. Before we went on a sunset cruise yesterday to see dolphins, we had dinner on a beautiful covered terrace by the water. We looked out over one of the mouths of the Gulf of Mexico, where the many boats pass on their way back home. I had sushi as a starter and then sea bass with grilled shrimp on a bed of risotto and cheese sauce… delicious!
Fish is not heavy on my stomach – unlike red meat – and if it was more affordable I would eat it more often. The only red meat I ate was a hamburger from a fast food chain, because we didn’t have time for anything else at that moment. We were busy finding a clinic with walk-in consultation hours, because my ear wasn’t feeling well. I never experienced this before, but the earache during the first landing (there is no direct flight from Amsterdam to Fort Myers) was excruciating and the second landing was even worse. Fortunately, the pain mostly went away, but I did start dreading the return flights.
The doctor looked at both ears and everything looked clear, but she could see that there was pressure behind my left eardrum and prescribed a nasal spray with corticosteroids to open up the Eustachian tube.
Five minutes later and $150 poorer, we went to the pharmacy at Walmart with a prescription for this nasal spray. As I suspected by now, I was given the nasal spray that I have at home for hay fever… it’s still there, because I didn’t think I would need it here! Now it turns out that it’s hay fever season here as well. I’m glad I got a doctor’s look, though, because I can’t see in my own ear and couldn’t think of a solution either.
I can’t believe how time flies here. I hope to look back and enjoy it for a long time after and more importantly: continue to get a good night’s sleep in my own bed!