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

— @HaggardHawks

A morning in bed with a few chapters of Bird by Bird and the next Harry Bosch novel (another page-turner!), pastéis de nata from The Hoghouse Bakery and coffee. I could not complain. If only the day could have continued like that. But: work had to be done.

After a few hours at my computer, I had a short swim and got into my car to drive out to sit in a friend’s garden and keep her company for a while. I wish I could say that I broke the lockdown rules to socialise, but it is not socialising when someone is too distressed to be alone and asks her friends to be with her to keep her sane. And you can’t even hug her when you arrive or leave (in time to reach home before the curfew, of course). We are living through demanding – i.e. f@#$%^&* awful – times.

When I am swimming next to my visiting Frog Prince (who has been identified for me by a helpful frog expert on Twitter as a Cape River Frog) while Glinka, Salieri and Mozart are sunbathing next to the pool and waiting for me to get out and devote my attention to them, I feel like I can manage this time – this horrific pandemic and all its consequences – but ‘managing’ is relative nowadays. Most mornings, opening one’s eyes to face the day already feels like a great achievement. Anything beyond that is a miracle.

Tangerine troll being off main social media is also a miracle. I know, I know – it’s too late, it’s all for the wrong reasons, it’s all a slippery road, it’s dangerous for privately owned companies to have so much power, and what about freedom of speech, etc. and blah, blah …

Good riddance, I say.

No!

Actually: TREMENDOUSLY good riddance!!! Take the psychopath’s toys away, I say; he has been playing with our lives for much too long, and hundreds of thousands of people are dead because of his lack of compassion and understanding. I had blocked him years ago, but I am relieved not to have to see ‘this tweet is unavailable’ together with that despised social media handle that was too f@#$%^&* real for my sanity.

To end on a smiling note: the frog expert wished me ‘happy frogging’ today :)))

Happy frogging, or whatever else you are doing to keep sane, dear Readers!

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

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

— NICD