Hullo. It’s been a while since I felt inclined to be present. The Pandemic works in mysterious ways. But I’m still here, still paddling, still painting. My absence can only be explained by mental exhaustion. It felt as if only the very basic activities could be maintained, so my website sat on a mental shelf waiting. Like everyone else for the last 15 months I got up every day and shrugged off the anxiety; I laughed at Peters’ jokes and drank my coffee watching the news waiting for an announcement that Covid was over and that I could stop waiting to exhale and take a deep breath of clean air filled optimism. And yet here we still are, waiting and almost normalizing this strange existence.

Luckily, so far my peeps and I have not been too adversely affected. Two beautiful baby boys turned 1 last week, their birth and parents’ struggles hidden safely away from the dirty claws of the Pandemic. I have not yet met them. My nephew celebrated his 40th with sobriety and health and his lovely wife and daughters. I ache to hug him. My sister is 1,000 kms away, as isolated as being on the moon. My circle is small, like everybodies’ should be. I am lucky to have Peter, both my parents, and my kids, my brother and 2 dear friends in mine. I stay in contact on social media. And of course I have my work family with their twisted sense of humour, generosity and compassion holding each other up. I am lucky that my economic safety was not threatened, although I am starting to question the sanity of my career choice as an ED nurse. But then , no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

I am also truly lucky that the 2 things that keep me sane: paddling and painting, were safe to pursue throughout the pandemic. My website is going through some growing pains. Thanks to Devon I am back on Squarespace. In the coming weeks I hope to actually have an online Shop.

It’s lightening up out there.