OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

Reading Rebecca Solnit with Glinka.

LIVE RUGBY! #SuperRugbyAotearoa

The sports minister of New Zealand spoke about the Team of Five Millions before the broadcast and I looked at all the players and the fans in the stadium and the essential workers they were honouring just before kickoff, and I envied them all. Imagine living in a country where you can gather, touch, celebrate together without fearing that you might get infected with Covid-19. As Duncan commented on Twitter, “I’m an ardent fan…of their captain.” When self-islanding, we should all want to be New Zealand.

To hear rugby commentary in the house on a Saturday morning felt like the best of the ‘good’ old days. Glinka, Bobik and I watched together, me hanging on to a hot water bottle and a quilt for dear life. A long, long time ago, I had a rugby ‘crush’ on Richard Kahui at a time when he played for the Chiefs, so I kind of wanted them to win, but it was not to be. They lost by one point in the last minutes of the game. But I didn’t care; I was just smiling from ear to ear that I could actually watch live sport I enjoy again. Thank you, New Zealand!

I ordered lunch from the Fire Monkey, a restaurant a very dear friend took us out to in March before the lockdown to celebrate my love’s birthday. The place was so crowded that night that we could hardly hear each other shout inside the restaurant, but they found us a table outside. The evening was balmy and the company and food and wine were gorgeous, so the delivery brought back delicious memories. Salieri took one look at the menu they sent with the food and demanded her share.

In the afternoon, I decided to clean up the garden path after the storms and found beautiful signs of new life on the property. The pool was also a mess, so I did some maintenance and discovered that my Frog Prince missed me so much that he came out to parade his swimming strokes for my adoration and was not shy about photographs.

Look at those eyes, and the delicious legs! I think Mozart got jealous because he arrived next to the pool and wanted to cuddle, so after finishing all the work, I sat down with him on the stoep and we had a lovely sundowner cuddle. But then Salieri arrived and, after hissing at her, Mozart decided that it was time to venture off to do whatever he does when he is pursuing his independent feline adventures.

In the evening, I had a wonderful Skype conversation with an author who is writing a memoir and wanted to pick my brains about structure and voice. Most of the story takes place at sea and it is simply incredible. I can’t wait for the next installment to be written.

Tonight, there will be a bath and hopefully another deep, long sleep. I went to bed earlier than usual last night and slept almost immediately, waking up only at seven this morning. It has been a long, busy week. Rest was needed. Tomorrow, there is more rugby and I will be tweeting live commentary about rugby players’ calves. Yep, I have had a request on Twitter… One of many ways of conquering the lockdown blues & hurricanes.

My wild Saturday nights during lockdown…

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Stay at home.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD