The tiny rivulet of readers that once checked in on this blog has evaporated to a few isolated and cracking puddles in a river system beset by drought! This is with very good reason: the scintillating tales of adventure have dried up of late as I recover from recent medical interventions, and we're thwarted from doing a whole lot more anyway due to Covid restrictions and common-sense precautions.
Sydney is currently in the grip of a developing monster problem and family members stuck in the middle of the lockdown cluster suburbs are feeling the brunt. It all stems, of course, from the glacier like rollout of vaccines and the mixed messages from health and government authorities. We have been caught out in this mixed messaging personally and we despair for those less enthusiastic than us to go and get vaccinated: what must they be thinking?!
I selflessly and heroically (!) volunteered myself for vaccination as soon as I was eligible, and although we had some misgiving about possible side effects and the efficacy of the Astra Zenica vaccine, I dutifully got my first dose. It was difficult to book and I was lucky to get in. Cassy's hesitancy to get AZ was warranted and ultimately rewarded as the rules changed after I'd had my first shot and now Pfizer was the preferred option for people our age...what?! Ultimately, this will work out fine with both of us fully vaccinated come early September. We wonder how less relentless seekers of the vaccine will fare, however. It was difficult for us at every turn with booking availability scarcity, mixed messages, back-flips and impediments in our path: the less motivated may well give up! Oh well, as I often refer to in these pages, that's a classic first world problem!
We've managed our daily walk most of the time, only denied by occasional rainy days or inclement weather of other types. We do also take the odd "recovery day" if the legs are leaden instead of the skies! Our regime does yield us tallies of between 30-40 km each week, however, and our bodies and spirits feel all the better for it. Cass and I both do weight bearing exercises as well on a regular schedule: no wonder we're exhausted in the evenings (!). This idyll is punctuated by all sorts of small diversions: lunches out, shopping trips, visits to our parents and other frivolous activities that we eventually get around to after lunch on pleasant days. We've both been reading voraciously and I'll try to list a selection of titles below that hint at the extensive menu from which we've been feasting!
The Knights have been a constant source of entertainment and in a season of mixed results there have been a few highlights. While I've been in recovery mode, Sue and Duncan have made full use of the spare tickets, Sue even braving atrocious stormy and wet conditions recently to cheer on the team. We were tossing up whether to attend the forthcoming State of Origin final game of the series slated for a start in Newcastle, but the decision was taken out of our hands as the state government canned it from occurring here. We were wavering about how wise it would have been to attend, so, luckily, the decision was made for us!
We were involved in some skulduggery to convince Jen to come out suitably dressed for a surprise birthday party in King Edward Park recently. I felt very strange lying through my teeth to invent a doctor's appointment for her actual birthday and to invite her and Vince to a restaurant on the party day. Vince needed me to do this to deflect any suspicion. Ellen did the bulk of the planning and organization, but alas, due to the lockdown, she was unable to attend. Lily ably filled the breech and did a fantastic job and Jen seemed to thoroughly enjoy the gathering of friends and family.
We went out for a cruise around the harbour on the historic restored and beautifully maintained William the IV paddle steamer after an invitation from Chris and Val. We had a sublime day for the cruise and the dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers gave us an interesting commentary, an old fashioned and delicious morning tea and best of all, the greatest perspective of our working harbour one could possibly hope for. What a great job they all do and what great entertainment: we all loved it!
Cass and I hope that the state restrictions and virus controls don't interfere with some of our upcoming plans. We hope to visit both Brisbane and Melbourne in the next few months (when we have our second shots) for a couple of standout art exhibitions. We've also booked another trip to Brisbane for later in the year, this time a VIP travel package to the first Ashes test. Anyway, if any or all of them materialise, you can be sure they'll be reported on in this space!
Just a tiny tasting plate of our recently read books: there are actually far too many to mention! Cass and I have been tag-teaming on many books lately with either she or I reading first depending on the time and the title or author. All five Alan Carter books, the NZ series as well as the Cato series. We've read a few of the Quirke series by Benjamin Black with more to come, a new one by Maria Adolfsson called "Fatal Isles", the start of the Washington Poe series by M. W. Craven, "The Puppet Show", "Take Me Apart" by Sara Sligar and Cass has even begun taking tiny bites at a back catalogue of classics with George Eliot's "Middlemarch". These are just a few morsels from our grazing!
I'll endeavour to be a little more timely in my updates, but won't promise anything I can't deliver: stay safe!