Logged on at last

Thank you to everyone who dropped by to say that you hope we're all staying safe. That was exactly what I meant about friendship and bloggie friends and you all deserve yesterday's award. My apologies for not replying to the comments but I've been unable to log onto Blogger until now.

Nothing really changed yesterday. The announcement about the state of emergency came at 7am, and the children left for school twenty minutes earlier so they were off on their way to school before we even knew about the situation. School made the decision to stay open, but cancelled after-school activities so everyone got home at the same time.

I'd got a big group for Book Club expected yesterday morning, just around the corner in Bitter Brown on Asoke (road) so I texted everyone to let them know I would be there as normal. Everyone else turned up too. Lots of the Book Club members are seasoned expats that have seen ... well, volatile times in other countries so no-one was frightened to go out. (We had a good meeting discussing Tim Winton's Cloudstreet which I really wanted to like more than I did. I'm not sure I understood it all - I need a conversation with the writer about some of the themes! I struggled hugely with the Australian vernacular, despite many years of Neighbours while a student! It was beautifully written, and the characters wonderfully drawn. He writes women really well, and I was desperate to know more of their stories.)

I've never done politics on this blog, and I'm not about to start now, but it may interest you to know what's happening here for me as an expat. It was quiet around town. Public transport unions were threatening to stop in support of the demo and there was considerably less traffic on the roads than normal. None of us would go anywhere near to Government House where it's all happening but there's nothing to be seen where I live.

Thanks again to all of you for your good wishes.