The Imagined Life

I hope you all are making it through this weird time! I'm sure you're chock full of COVID information. I know that I am. It's getting to that point where I have to turn away and run the opposite direction when I see the news being put on the TV. Run of course meaning go to another room in the house. Because there - is - nowhere - else - to - go. South Africa has gone in an interesting direction with this whole thing. Instead of using reason and logic to guide their decisions, they have gone down a path that many have paved before. Total arbitrary control. From on high, they tell us their decision with each passing few weeks, and it's enough to send everyone to the cavern of despair. We arrived here on March 17. It is now May 24. The country has pretty much been on lockdown since we arrived. They told us it was going to be for three weeks. Then it was another two weeks. Then it turned into a level system and we were at level 5 with hopes of a level 4. We're in le

My apologies that I didn't get a post out in March, but I'm sure you can understand. The world has been taken by storm! Or a virus, I should say, and we've all been in a tizzy trying to figure out what's going on and where to go. We rushed to South Africa in order to be with James' parents. We were planning on spending Spring Break with them in Malawi and Zambia anyway but due to unforeseen circumstances, that didn't work out. So we are here! Filling our days with what activities we can. (Our cat is busy making me jealous as he sits on my neighbor's laps back in Malawi and shares his love with people besides me. Traitor.) Here in South Africa, we are in lockdown. I mean real-deal prison lockdown, none of this light request of social distancing kind of lockdown. No leaving the house unless you need to: groceries, medical things. We can't even walk outside or buy alcohol! You will find me here slowly moving out further and further into the lawn trying

Ok, maybe February isn't quite blissful, but it is a far cry from the dark corners of endless January, which seemingly stretched on into eternity. Now, red wine is back in my life, and yet inspiration eludes me. Oh, my 2020 goals! My dear sweet goals! I cling to them and pick through them now and again and wonder how on earth I will accomplish them. I sometimes feel afraid in the morning before I begin to write. A fresh daily dose of fear. So unlike me, is it not? Thoughts swirl around in my head. Ok, what should I write? Will it be good? Will it make sense? Knowing the helter skelter world that is my mind, probably not.  I search for my inspiration in the lovely morning birdsong and the bottom of my cup of earl grey, and yet, I see only foggy ideas in front of me. But, perhaps, inspiration is just like that. I have these moments I see that I write down in my notebook, and they're lovely, excellent moments. Snippets of a story or a book or even a scene. And yet, what goes o

We have recently returned from our awesome US trip back HOME to Malawi. It's nice to think of Malawi as home. That's the only way one can do it. Embrace your new homeland! Currently, Malawi is in summer with daily rainstorms and beautiful greenery. It calmed and soothed our delirious jetlagged souls as we arrived out of the airport after our 52 hour journey (gross!), and we were happy to be back in our house with our cat who missed us greatly. Cats can miss people, you know! But, soon after our arrival, once at least a bit of the fog of travel had disappeared, we both started to feel that usual January slump. Sure, we're depressed about the holidays being over. I hated and always hate saying goodbye to family and friends AGAIN after such an awesome time. But, I think that with the new year always comes the push to be more reflective on our lives, and both of us are doing just that. We are considering whether our paths, mainly our career paths, are heading in the direc