Day 1 of 21 days in quarantine

It was eerily quiet this morning, we are obviously accustomed to the background hum of early morning traffic as people head to work, this morning it was conspicuous by its absence. All I could hear was the ever present Christmas beetle buzz of my own tinnitus.

Because the removal company was here on Monday to take away all of the "stuff" that will eventually accompany us overseas our house is mostly empty, two bedrooms are now empty as is my pub which was the centre of our daily existence really, I don't mean that we drank all day but we often sat there or out on the back veranda. Now the rooms echo with memories of all the parties and braai gatherings that we have had over the past 25 years, it's surreal and it adds to the sombre feeling that pervades the town "We could die from this!"  Not that we are negative, nothing could be further from the truth but it is there in the background.

I try to eat well but I know I eat too well, this was my lunch. I bought a packet of six harders from Charlie's fish shop so I have another two meals like this in the deep freeze, I will have them soon, don't want to leave them frozen too long. We eat twice a day, always have done, Janet eats a lot lighter than me, usually fruit and cheese. I grilled these harders and ate them with fresh brown bread and they were absolutely delicious. They are bony but that doesn't bother me, the flavour is well worth the trouble.

We have our first drink at 17h00 and we collaborate on the evening meal which is usually around 19h00 and that's a proper meal. Ever since we were both working that has been our habit, I was out on the sea every day so I would eat a packed meal at 10h00 when we stopped for a break, usually a sandwich with a piece of leftover meat from the previous evening meal.

I am determined to stay at home the whole three weeks, I think that we have enough to do this except that the wine may not last! It could get serious but we cannot buy booze anyway so it may be a good thing, we'll empty all the half and quarter bottles of things like Pernod, Buchu, Witblitz and Peppermint Schnapps that have been there ever since we used to entertain visiting aquaculture students on their annual field outings.

I would have been at the Phoenix bar by now playing pool with my mates, Friday afternoon was always pool day, I'm going to miss the pub. 

Just had a chat with my old riding buddy Frank, he's fine and he sounds much better lately after going through a difficult period healthwise. He lives alone in Vredenburg but he is surrounded by people who love him and care about him. We will keep in  touch by phone, he does not have internet or whatsapp which seems strange in this technological age but he says "What the hell am I going to do with internet? I wouldn't know how to use it." I can't imagine being without it.

It is a fantastic day and riding on these (mostly) empty roads would be wonderful! Ah well it can wait, stay healthy, stay happy and stay at home.