Mid-autumn

Sunrise

 The full moon was just 4 days ago ... our Chinese mind-autumn festival and the Jewish feast of Sukkot. The air crisp and the days are much cooler ... not going beyond 26 degrees. Evenings go down to 21 degrees. And dark rain clouds are overhead for 2 days now. It also drizzled several times. Time to get my hoodie jackets out.

Like all autumns, the sunrises and sunsets here are amazing. And you see flocks of European birds migrating south to Africa during this period. The summer flowers have died out and autumn fruit are ripening. The markets are full of fruit. Beautiful colours of grapes, peaches, figs, dates and especially pomegranates. 

Zinnias

My left leg continues to be swollen and now there's a danger of developing thrombosis. I have to wear compression socks to prevent it. There's a weakness and lethargy that I fear might be due to anaemia (again) so yesterday I went back to my insurance clinic to do a blood test. Will have to wait for the results next week. Dr. Dima saw me as my regular Dr. Thaer was not on schedule. She explained why the leg was swollen and that it might take another 3 months for my heart and legs to get used to changes. Each person's body reacts differently; some faster some slower. My operation was particularly complicated so she said it's normal to take a longer time to heal. I was told that after my surgery I was rushed to ICU immediately instead of being wheeled out to the family in the waiting room. My superiors and students were waiting for an hour before they asked and were told I was rushed to ICU.