Lockdown Journal: Day 53 (I'm Back)

2Summers | 18 May 2020
johannesburg food blogging covid-19

It’s Day 53 of the South African lockdown. Did you miss me? It’s good to be back.

I’m not sure if numbering these lockdown journal posts makes sense anymore, since I didn’t blog on Day 51 or Day 52. Skipped numbers might bother the OCD-inclined among you (and also me). But at this point I don’t know what else to do so I guess I’ll continue this way.

Taking two days off from blogging was sort of nice. It was pleasant to pass the weekend without this daily task hanging over me. But the blogging holiday also gave me more time to obsess over worries I’d previously been pushing aside, such as:

  1. Blogging about the same topic every day for 53 straight days is probably not good for the 2Summers Google ranking. Also I don’t understand Google rankings.
  2. I am very unproductive, which I know everyone (including me) said was okay at the beginning of lockdown but now I’m starting to feel panicky about it.
  3. I have virtually no income and no plan for the future, and am unmotivated to do anything about these rather significant life challenges.
  4. The world is falling apart.

This hilarious video sums up my lockdown experience perfectly. I’ve watched it five times so far today.

I did manage a few non-blogging accomplishments this weekend:

  1. I did my first truly strenuous workout in two months, which may or may not have involved a slight bending of the Level 4 lockdown rules. It felt great.
  2. I read part of a book.
  3. I raked leaves.
  4. I zoomed.
  5. I knitted.
  6. I listened to When People Zol at least 100 times.
  7. I watched a new Netflix series called Hollywood, which I cannot recommend enough despite its mediocre reviews. So much better than Tiger King!
  8. I designed a new bitmoji for myself.
  9. I baked a lemon turmeric cake the color of sunshine.
Lemon turmeric cake
Lockdown photo 53: Lemon turmeric loaf cake. I’ve always loved lemon cake and have been thinking about making this one since a friend on Instagram posted about it last month. Here’s the recipe I used.
Lemon cake and tea
It’s delicious but next time I’m adding a little more lemon juice.
Heather bitmoji
New bitmoji. I don’t wear my glasses very often but I like the way they look on a bitmoji. If you want to create your own, download the Bitmoji app on your phone and get to work

Looking at the list above makes me feel far more accomplished than I felt while the weekend was actually happening.

This week I’m looking forward to getting involved with a new volunteer project in Melville. My biggest problem right now is I’m stuck far too deep inside my own head. I hope helping others will be a good way to claw my way out of there.

Today’s Worthy Cause

Today’s worthy cause is Ubuntu Beds, a hospitality industry initiative offering guest rooms to South African healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. This is such a great idea: The program is seeking financial donations as well as rooms at hotels and B&Bs. Donate here.

Heather bitmoji2
…Tomorrow.