A Happy Evening In A Burning World

Another happy evening in a burning world. My supervisor returned a chapter with positive comments and a close friend made a plan to celebrate my birthday. I am not big on birthdays, but with the sword of a national lockdown perpetually hanging over us this autumn, any opportunity to socialize with loved ones is not to be missed. And, I built bridges with another friend whom I had minorly fallen out with. I was concerned about him, but turns out he is okay. In another age, I would have been miffed he had not taken the initiative to patch up because he was responsible for our kerfuffle, but not in this age. 

In a burning world, a happy evening is just that, a happy evening, but not something to thumb your nose at. When both near and distant future of the whole country(s) is so uncertain one can only live in the present and make what one can of it. Will that be one of the big learnings from the crisis? To occupy the present fully, and not allow it to be clouded by memories of the past or fear of the future? How to enjoy the anticipation of good things even if those things don't materialize, even when the fear of illness or death is ever-present.