A few days off

Part of my pandemic mental health survival plan is to take days off here and there and have some beach long weekends. This week I went all out and took Monday and Tuesday off - went down Saturday morning and had four lovely days. Monday was completely summery and thirty degrees with a storm coming through in the evening. I had the windows open, just wearing t-shirt and shorts, remembering finally what it felt like to chill at the beach on a hot day! Last summer didn't happen because of the conference and the fires, and the one before that I went to Cambodia and Hobart, so I feel like I've missed out a bit. 

I also went for a couple of swims because the air temperature was so lovely. The water temperature was icy, but no matter, the new wetsuit is great! There's a point at which the seawater comes up your legs, and another point when it trickles down your back, but it soon warms up. I take a while to wrestle myself into it, and there are some uncoordinated wriggly dance steps to get out of it, but who cares. There were some good waves and Monday I had the beach entirely to myself. Such a treat .... I read books, went for walks, talked to nobody and gradually started to relax. 

I'd had a nasty vomiting bug last Thursday which didn't help the inner serenity - I ate the same as everyone else in the house but woke up at midnight and threw up for the next ten hours. It was HORRIBLE - at one point I was lying on the bathroom floor mentally going through the medicine cabinet to find something that would kill me because I figured I was going to die soon anyway ... I haven't had that feeling for ages and it wasn't good. But I survived and recovered, and made it down the beach even though a day later than I was planning. I ate a lot of plain toast and no alcohol, which was probably for the best.