OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.
DISTURBANCE: Dawn Garisch’s second poetry collection and Karavan Press’s second poetry collection fresh off the press. It’s beautiful, even if I say so myself. We are launching tomorrow. A very fitting title for a book published in 2020!
I had my first Covid19-test today. And my second. The first because one needs it to travel beyond our borders. The second out of sheer panic that the results of the first might not be delivered on time before the trip. Two different test methods, two different testing facilities and two different labs. Hopefully, at least one will deliver the results in time. And I am praying that they will be the kind of results that allow one to travel. No reason to believe otherwise, but this virus has proven to be a tough one to pin down, so god knows what can be expected.
For the first test, I had to spit (a lot!) into a small container and then transfer all the spit into a tiny tube that went off to be tested. For the second one, I had my brains tickled (shockingly so) with a long cotton bud. I once had a gastroscopy done without any anesthetics because I had to drive myself home afterwards. This was a much shorter and definitely less intrusive invasion, but for those few seconds just as unpleasant. It is nearly impossible not to shed a tear afterwards.
So now: the wait.
Negative, negative, negative. Please.
Beyond at Buitenverwachting, the latest culinary venture by Peter Tempelhoff (of FYN). The restaurant is new, but the venue holds for me memories of many, many years and I always return with a sense of nostalgia. It was a comforting place to be with my love after the tests and another day of running around like a headless chicken (apart from a brief tea with my dear friend Helen who came to pick up her Book Lounge books from me :)).
Time for bed. Last night, I had an anxiety-induced gap in my sleep from around two to four a.m. – I would love to sleep through tonight …
Good night.
Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.
“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”
— NICD
Karina Magdalena 
Ha! Did not know there was a “spit test”…..I’d willingly give gallons of saliva to avoid that tickle of the brain! it scares me as much as getting Covid.