Photos tell lies

The youngest agreed to watch the sunrise with me last Friday morning.

When I asked her what she thought of it, she replied that it was the first and last time she’d be doing it.

Obviously not a morning person. Even though it looked like THIS:

That’s us wading into the water to have a glorious post-sunrise swim.

I reckon it’s an unbeatable way to start the day.

And yet, on the other hand, photos tell lies.

I put the sunrise pics on Facebook and they got heaps of likes. I appeared to be living the best life, but I was actually a mess on Thursday and Friday.

I am easily thrown off emotional balance these days and something happened on Thursday afternoon that had me weeping buckets.

I was just starting to feel balanced again after my sunrise swim when I got a message from a good friend to say she only had a few weeks to live.

It felt a bit self-absorbed to be so distraught about it because I’m not the one who is dying, but I was gutted by the sad news and spent the rest of Friday blubbing as well.

My funk wasn’t helped by my car announcing that my gearbox was overheating as I waited to drop off an old tellie at a recycling centre. The smell of my gearbox cooking was quite something. Cue panicked freak out. I switched off the engine for a few minutes and it seemed to recover. But fark that car. Geez I hate it.

I worked myself up so much that I felt physically ill by Friday night.

But on Facebook my life looked dreamy.

I woke on Saturday feeling more balanced, especially after my regular walk and talk with friends, with a little help from WhatsApp.

Then I pottered around sorting out my household mess while the builder hammered and sawed in the garage. And I bought myself two tickets in the latest YourTown lottery because I really need some escapism right now. The first prize is a fancy white house on 1.6 acres in the Tallebudgera Valley.

DD and I went for a drive through the valley on a weekend away once and agreed it was quite dreamy. It’s close to Gold Coast Airport, but feels miles away from anywhere. It’s quite the hidden treasure. We fantasised about living there and commuting when work required.

Although, as I paid for my tickets, I could almost hear my ex saying “happiness is not to be found in a new house, Alana”.

But I seem to function better if I have exciting plans swirling in my head. I love it when life feels filled with endless possibilities. COVID-19 makes everything seem so limited and small.

I was getting my groove back by Saturday night – the eldest and I ate taco salad on the couch and binge watched Brittania.

Two more walks on Sunday morning smoothed out a few more kinks and I was back to an almost-even keel last night, just in time to start the Groundhog Day working-from-home week all over again.

How was your weekend? Did you fight the COVID blues better than me?

Song of the day: George Harrison “Here comes the sun”