Covid Journal, Day 119

70 and lovely this morning, a heavy fog and so cool. It's a relief to finally have some reasonable temperatures.

Day 119: who thought it might be this long?

I guess I have to admit that I did, which is why I canceled all my summer storytelling events. And now canceling fall. But to see the actual number of days is still stunning, especially as there seems to be no end in sight. My oldest son speculated that this might actually be how we have to live, that the risk of infection is going to be a fact of life if we are to ever get everyone back to work, shopping, etc. I have wondered the same thing, and find it a horrible thought. How many friends and family members will we all have to accept losing in that scenario? It hardly bears thinking about.

I am very worried about my youngest son and his family in Florida. People close to them are sick with the virus, and the Florida numbers keep going up. Here, we can live a fairly usual life, doing pretty much everything we used to do except travel, see friends, attend events and storytelling. We can go outside whenever we want, we have more than enough to keep us busy, hundreds of books and movies if we need entertainment. But those in cities and tight neighborhoods are having a much harder time of it. I feel so sad for them.

I've mentioned before that I've been reading novels--and other books--more than I have in years since this lockdown. Today I finished one recommended by Pat at the Weaver of Grass blog called The Offing, by Benjamin Myers. It was hard to get into, with a long slow descriptive beginning. I was almost halfway through the book before I got interested, but I trust Pat's judgment so I plowed on.

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I was rewarded with a rich, well-told story filled with lyrical descriptions of nature. I quailed a bit at the frequent long statements by Dulcie, one of the main characters, about how people should life live and many other topics. Her opinions perhaps were the author speaking through her and giving voice to his own opinions. Eventually I just skimmed through her monologues and got on with the story.

The tale revolves around a 16-year-old boy who takes off on a ramble through England just after World War II. The country and its people are still struggling to recover, food and jobs are tight and there is a grimness to life that in some ways is worse than the war years.But young Robert wants to see something of life before settling down into the life of a coal miner that seems pre-ordained for him.

Along the way he meets Dulcie and her dog Butler, and his life takes a dramatic change he could never imagine. There's a mystery that twines through the story, and some good poetry and descriptions of the most interesting food. By the end of the book, I felt very sorry to see it end, and as I often find myself doing, I stroked the cover gently before putting the book back on my shelf. This one is a keeper, and I hope to read it again, and perhaps next time I won't skim the long monologues.

Besides reading, I worked on painting projects today. Larry dug potatoes and went looking for blackberries. He found a few very small ones, enough that I will be able to make a small cobbler, I think. We ended the day by the firepit, and with a good phone call with our oldest son. A good, slow, quiet day, as most of our days are now. I'm not complaining.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.