loving gaze

For a number of days I felt strong and often wondered if I would be spared of the virus. Then on Sunday, I began to feel really sick. Hot on the inside, which the thermometer reading confirmed as high fever! That was two days ago. Since then my fever continues. Lower during the daytime but much higher in the wee hours of the morning. Yesterday, I had very little appetite for anything - whether it was food, or even to while away the time reading or browsing through the internet. I also worried about my fever as the doctor said that the highness of it was quite unusual for Covid. I am being asked to undergo blood test so that more can be determined. In the meantime, I was given a prescription for antibiotic, steroid, and an anti-viral. I started on these, plus the traditional Chinese medicine called Lian Hua, which some swear by as being very good for fever. Perhaps because of the now overload of meds, my body feels a bit off. Perhaps the battles within are now raging and in full-blast: ...

This is one of the last views I've had of our bougainvilleas giving so much cheer outside our window. I behold this sight as a wonderful sign that as St. Julian of Norwich says, "All shall be well, and all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be well."   Why do we need to keep reminding ourselves that all shall be well?  Well, because we have now crossed the one year anniversary mark from the day of Covid lockdown. I remember clearly it was March 16, 2020. It almost feels like the day the war officially started. Our generation and the younger ones have not lived through the traditional world war, unlike our parents did. But now we do have a World War III, which is the battle against Covid. Finally a weapon has been developed, called vaccine. But sadly, only the rich countries have lots of these. And in our country with its burgeoning population, only trickles have come in. And the past 2 weeks cases have gotten so high. Covid has also invaded our own home. What w...

sway, leaves, sway ! wind on your skin raindrops dripping sunlight resting spine reaching up clouds bending down eternity within your reach . . .

  It's almost a year since the lockdown started. And now it's looking like we may still be in this state for another year! Other countries have been vaccinating by the hundreds of thousands or millions. But here we are, nothing concrete in sight for our country. With still around 2000 new cases a day and several deaths.  My heart feels heavy when I think of how short-changed students have been. Especially those in the urban poor communities and those in the rural areas. Due to lack of internet access, the receive learning packets in paper form. But no teacher explanations. They now have to rely on their parents or older siblings to help them learn new lessons, and yet their parents are most likely unfamiliar with the lessons or too busy to spend sufficient time helping them.  So many people have also lost their source of income. Some have had to shift to other jobs that actually expose them more to covid risks. For example, we have now a lot of delivery men on motorbikes....