Writer, editor, traveler
by Faith
I just heard this on the BBC and had to share it with you. “This is the time to be slow, Lie low to the wall Until the bitter weather passes. Try, as best you can, not to let The wire brush of doubt Scrape from your heart All sense of yourself And your hesitant …
Continue reading “Pandemic lockdown #8: A poem for the morning”
by Faith
I’m happy to report that God’s little beady-eyed creature that made itself at home on Alice’s bed the other night went to meet his Maker yesterday. He had the grace to die out in the open, praise be, and not in some inaccessible place. RIP, Ratty. Today is Ivy’s 6th birthday! She is loving lockdown, …
Continue reading “Pandemic lockdown #7: minor news on a number of fronts”
by Faith
I awoke early this morning (question for later discussion: will I ever sleep again? is anybody sleeping?) to find all the lights blazing in the living room and Alice looking a bit bleary and reclined upon the sofa. What on earth is going on? I asked. She then recounted her evening in a quavery yet …
Continue reading “Pandemic lockdown #6: In which we have a visitation”
by Faith
I ran across this quote the other day, which seems peculiarly suited to the current moment: “One must live every day as if it were one’s last, and as if one would live forever, both at the same time.” –Alexander the Great This, according to Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly. I cannot verify it independently, alas. …
by Faith
I see that a lot of people are making bread these days, as am I (even though our boulangeries in France are open, but of course, bread being an utterly essential item here, and lack of same leading to riots and revolution). The best recipe, the easiest (takes time, but that is unattended time), the …
Continue reading “Pandemic lockdown #4: Morning Coronabaking edition”
by Faith
Yesterday I told my version of my maternal grandmother’s experience during the 1918 flu pandemic. She had little formal education, but she was curious about everything and devoured the news every day. She was also a magnificent storyteller. I loved her so much and I used to spend a lot of time with her. She …
by Faith
I have worked at the World Health Organization for 12 years, a fair amount of that time spent helping out in outbreaks, starting with the H1N1 flu pandemic. I also worked with the team dealing with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)–which is also a coronavirus–going on mission several times to Saudi Arabia and to …
by Faith
I have actually been in lockdown since March 3, I think. Because I have extremely severe asthma, I got worried and decided to start working from home. Only a few days later, almost everyone at WHO started working remotely. Oddly, I have written almost nothing about this strange new world we find ourselves in. I …
by Faith
Today, Lanhydrock gardens and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Just stunning. It is SO COLD in Cornwall that I had to buy a coat today. Am finally warm. Hooray!
