It's newsletter time again. Read on:

A is for Abomination... You all know what I'm talking about...

B is for Brief Version. So..., in January, we went to the UK to visit family. After a fortnight in Newark, Nottinghamshire, we took various trains down to Spain and Portugal for a few weeks. By the time we got back to England, the world was shutting down around us... Lockdown rooted us in the UK location where we'd first fetched up (see C). And Malaysia's Movement Control Order meant we couldn't go home (see K). At the end of July, after an absence of more than six months, we finally got back to Sarawak, East Malaysia. And, of course, we've not left since...

C is for Cromer, the delightful Norfolk seaside town that became our post-Spain refuge. After a week in a little cottage, we moved into an apartment on the outskirts of town. This was where we learnt to live with lockdown, and looked on with horror as hundreds died every single day. Later, this was where we started negotiating the delicate dance out of lockdown, weighing up risks as we went. And this was where, as restrictions in Malaysia eventually eased somewhat, we wrestled with the complex and ever-changing regulations surrounding our return to Sarawak.



D is for Dancing. When you're cooped up for various reasons, this is a great way to exercise and de-stress. You don't need to be elegant, just enthusiastic... And -- because at five songs per session, and four sessions per stay-in day, we burn through lots of music -- we have to keep looking for new dance numbers, which is a great little window on the world (we particularly like Turkish and Latin-American).


E is for Enduring. It's been tough, right? We've had it really, really easy compared with many. We personally know people who have had very bad doses of Spikes's nasty disease, even died; people who have been cut off from partners, children, or parents for endless months; people who are really struggling to keep their businesses afloat; people who have lost their jobs because of pandemic-related cutbacks; people who are having just the ghost of a full university experience... And so it goes on. Next to these people, we've got nothing to complain about. But jeez, we're all just so tired of it...

F is for Family. If the year had gone according to plan, we'd have spent eight weeks with Nigel's parents, and a week with my brother and sister-in-law. As it turned out, we had two weeks, and no weeks. And even though we were in the same country as Nigel's mum and dad for all those months, sheltering regulations meant we couldn't even have lunch in the garden together until nearly the end of our time there. We're SO looking forward to the point when it will be possible to see them all again.

G is for General Hospital. On our return to Sarawak, we embarked on two weeks' quarantine at one of the government-approved hotels. Two days in, however, we tested positive for the ghastly Spikes, and were shipped off to hospital post-haste. Fortunately, we displayed no symptoms at all, so we got off really lightly, but that phone call was probably one of the least good moments in our lives... At the end of the two-week period, we were released, but had to do a further two weeks' quarantine at home.

So H is for Home, in the various manifestations of which we've Hunkered down for a Hell of a lot of Hours this year... We've never lacked interesting things to do, although the monotony of it all has told on me a bit at times. I read, research, write (three blogs now), learn languages, cook... Nigel studies the financial markets, writes software, maintains our website, and avidly follows the world of motor sport. We're lucky to have so many interests that require only the internet to pursue.





I is for Iberian Peninsula. We look back on that leisurely five-week circuit in February and early March -- London, Paris, Irun, Vigo, Porto, Lisbon, Faro, Cordoba, Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Paris, London -- as a relic of another era. How wonderful it was...



J is for Jab -- the one we hope is going to set us all on the road to recovery. May it be...

K is for Kuching, our home city. We've been based here for well over a year now, and we still love it. Relaxed, friendly, just the right size, just the right blend of tradition and modernity -- it suits us perfectly.






L is for Living Without Travel. When something that has been the mainspring of your life suddenly becomes impossible, its absence leaves a big hole. Some Big OE this is turning out to be... But, like everyone else, we've just had to make do. First, to "travel", you don't need to go far, as long as you see something differently. (In Cromer, with our radius limited to the distance our feet could take us, we hunted out flint churches and wartime fortifications; in Kuching, we ferret out structures with interesting stories; and when we're allowed to go further afield in Sarawak, we do road trips -- see R...) Second, travel memories really come into their own (hence Vintage Travel)... And third, I embarked on a series of "shadow journeys", retracing a previous journey through novels, biography, music, performances, art, language, food -- anything, really, that helps you deepen the experience you once had of a particular place (this kind of thing). But, of course, all these ventures are second best, and what we all want to get back to is the real thing, ideally in some better-than-previously version...


M is for Mane, which is what we all sported for a while once the hairdressers closed down. The answer? M for Mail-Order Clippers...

N is for Nuts. No, not the Nuts we're all going, but the Nuts required by Nigel's low-carb diet. Like many in the world, we've spent a lot more time in the kitchen this year, but our kind of baking demands almond flour and/or coconut flour. Again, thank goodness for mail order...

O is for One. Or actually 1. As in 1 Second Everyday, which is the video diary I've been keeping since the middle of April (there's an example here). It's been an interesting project, which has definitely taught me to look at things differently.

P is for Plaster. My bone strength is still not great; in June I broke a bit of my right hand, and spent almost five weeks in a cast (just as we were starting to put plans in place for our return home...) Other than that, though, we're doing pretty well.

Q is for Quietness, which -- as last year -- still eludes me. You'd think that if any year were to be particularly propitious for quietness, it would be this one. But no, I've filled it with activity. Probably to ward off despair...

R is for Road Trips. A Conditional Movement Control Order clicked back into place for Kuching during most of November, confining us to our home district. But before and after that, we hired a car a few times to do some pandemic-appropriate (ie, highly risk-averse) exploration of Sarawak. We've been southeast as far as Lubok Antu, northeast as far as Bintulu, and west pretty much as far as you can get before you bump into Indonesia. If there's one thing that defines this state, it's water, and our ongoing obsession with car ferries has brought us into contact with many a watercourse and estuary. Sarawak's big, though. There's still lots of Tern-untouched territory to explore.







S is for Steps. Lockdowns, quarantines, La Nina, and mask-wearing obligations have conspired to ensure we've walked nowhere near as far as we did last year. Still, we've averaged 10,680 steps (about 7 km) a day this year so far... Hoping for better things next year.

T is for Thankful. Just being alive at the end of this momentous year feels like an unmerited and precious gift.

And U is for Unprecedented. No further comment needed...

But V is for Vitality. We have often marvelled at the initiative of our fellow-humans this year. People have found work-arounds for so many things that Spikes disrupted. They've figured out ways to create, even when separated. And a general mood of generosity has allowed us all to benefit from a raft of otherwise inaccessible plays, movies, performances, docos, galleries, museums, and archives.

And W is for Wit and Wisdom. When we've needed them, someone has always been ready with a supply -- thank you!

X is for Xenomania, which we all hope we'll be able to indulge to the full again very soon...

Y, as always, is for You. And, as usual -- in fact, even more than usual -- we'd LOVE to hear from you.

Z is for Zigzaggy. There's not going to be a straight route out of this predicament, and we're all going to need lots of patience for the next little while. Hang on to hope! May 2021 be a year of healing for us all.