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

— @HaggardHawks

My lovely neighbours had to endure another burglary this week. Judging from the MO, probably the same thief as last time. With the beginning of the long voting weekend, I heard two sounds all day today: my neighbours’ attempts to turn their home into a fortress by introducing further security measures, and all around us alarms going off. I worked for most of the day in my bed, so it was impossible not to hear the sound effects of a neighbourhood in criminal distress. I have become so paranoid about safety now that it is no longer simple OCD behaviour … and yet, and yet. Home is home.

In the late afternoon, I went to have supper with my love – all healthy stuff after our pizza sinning last night. I returned home to do some more work – the latest round of edits on a manuscript has got me in head-scratching mode. A chronology issue needs to be resolved. But no solutions presented themselves today. Maybe one will appear in my dreams.

For quite a while now, I have been daydreaming of a bath, but could not find the time. My councillor advised that I do something special for myself every day, especially when everything is crazy. So, tonight, was bath time! And while I was in the bath, I watched some more Star Trek: Picard with my brother. (No worries: the laptop was positioned in such a way that my poor brother wasn’t exposed to my nakedness!)

In the episode we watched, there was an interesting take on what a promise is – a prison that we design for ourselves. Today, I agree. I broke a promise – not because I intended to, but because I simply ran out of time and ideas to complete a task. And I cannot escape the prison of guilt attached to the failure.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please.

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

— NICD