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

— @HaggardHawks

A night of nausea and suffering – I ate some leftovers which perhaps I shouldn’t have and paid the price. It took a long time to get going in the morning, especially on a cold and rainy day, but eventually I got my act together and put in a solid day of work at the computer (in bed, with catssistance). I don’t feel entirely recovered yet, but I think I am going to sleep tonight.

Bin day, and again no collection. And these are the people who used to manage to collect refuse even during holidays which fell on a Monday. Uncertainty prevails. This is just one of the numerous symptoms. It is impossible to assess yet what consequences the pandemic will have on just about everything. The excess deaths in South Africa have risen to disturbing numbers. One doesn’t really know which statistics to orientate oneself by. It seems as if the worst is behind us, but maybe that depends on which province you live in and how much you are forced or/and prepared to risk.

I am going out of the house with more and more ease, but I am happiest when I am at home next to a fire my love made for me, reading, with purring cats all around. (And now that my Harry Bosch collection is nearly complete and my binge reading is well underway, I feel safe in my oysterhood.) But, there are also friends and travels and wonderful experiences waiting – and with so many people trying their best to operate within safety precautions, it doesn’t make sense to live in constant paranoid fear. It is exhausting in itself.

So, I stumble on.

I will be watching Bulletproof tonight and going to bed early.

Good night.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

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

— NICD