Saturday 4 April 2020, 20th Day of SA Corona Virus, Day 9 of SA Lockdown 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for another beautiful day, at 21 C, with morning mist, the clouds clearing, and rain clouds on their way; for the most beautiful sunsets tonight; for being in touch with friends from around the world; for being motivated and inspired by the TED Talk of ‘Eat Pray Love’ author Elizabeth Gilbert; for the further excellent service of Woolworths Camps Bay, getting an item for me in less than 24 hours; for hearing the praise by Bill Gates of our President Cyril’s handling of the pandemic in our country and the rest of Africa too, on the Trevor Noah show today; for Kfm’s fabulous music to dance and walk to; for feeling excited to be observing this World Event from the comfort of my home; and for being fit, heathy, and happy. 🙏💙

This morning I sent this to Sascha of Rabbit in a Hat, who sends a daily Lockdown email, feeling particularly motivated by its content today:

‘Thank you for this Sascha. What an interesting Solo Journey this is for each one of us, even if one lives with others. I live alone, and am loving the freedom of this captivity, to be who I really am and doing what I really love, writing and dancing, and walking to the shops on some days, without any other distractions of escapism’.

My Facebook Memory reminded me of it being a year ago today that I got engaged to Ali. 😱

Then I found the TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, an hour-long motivational talk in the context of Corona. And then it all fell into place for me. That my trip last year, walking the Portuguese Camino and travelling in South America for three months SOLO, was my training ground for this Corona Lockdown. Such gratitude for this insight. This inspired the title of my latest SwitchBitch book, about my Solo Journey through life. I shared the TED Talk on my Facebook page. Some Gilbert wisdoms: don’t let the virus into your home by watching news reports about it continuously; feeling paralyzed in not getting things done is a sign of not being alone enough yet; she likened our homes to spiritual retreats, right at our doorstep rather than having to travel to India or a local spiritual retreat; she spoke about compassion for others without sorting out their problems, just being there for friends and family in this time; that one should pace oneself in this ‘Corona Marathon’, being kind to oneself; and that one should let go of control. We should live in the present and not try to predict what the future will hold. ❤️❤️❤️

The City of Cape Town refuse truck drove past this morning, clearing out the green bins, so I asked them to please remove the contents of the bins in the SAPS parking area too, which were close to overflowing yesterday. I checked on them this afternoon, and they were empty. #thankyou

I received a call from Woolworths Camps Bay that an out of stock item I requested was available, so I went to fetch it, being a perishable item. For the first time I experienced the door being closed, only 15 shoppers allowed in at a time. With lovely service. Such lovely chats to locals I walked past, everyone is so friendly and chatty.

I visited Law Enforcement Senior Inspector Ivor Ramsay, whom I met yesterday, to read him a fabulous compliment comment to my Facebook post of yesterday. He was so delighted to receive the feedback, and we chatted in his office for a while. So hope we get to keep him here after the Lockdown Lift.

I started reading Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, set in Havana, but I keep jumping up to dance.

I spoke to Louisa Andrews Stroebel, who sounded happy and was cooking supper; to Stuart Bailey, who recommended some series to watch, and to Cintia Guevara, unfortunately not on the phone due to the poor internet in Cuba, she expecting her firstborn in June.

I was proud of making my first Bircher’s Müsli, with oats, grated apple, figs, nuts, and raisins.

Now time for bed and movies. Hopping out to dance in-between 💃🎶 Started off with a 50 year anniversary tribute to Elvis Presley, with Keith Urban, JLo, John Legend, Ed Sheeran, the gorgeous Shawn Mendes, and more performing, on ZDF.

SA Corona Status : 1585 cases 9 deaths 😷😪

Fitbit 14000 steps 10 km 👣

Lovemylife❤️

 

The Corona Virus Lockdown, announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this week to commence on 27 March and to continue until 16 April, is an unprecedented event in my lifetime. I am posting my daily Facebook post to journal this Corona Lockdown Journey, perhaps to serve as material for a future Book.

 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein