Sunday, January 30

At 11:00 I walk up K.S. Road, away from the junction, in search of the ayervedic treatment centre that Irma has visited twice. I have a massage booked. I walk in right on time and wait in the lobby for the masseur who has not yet arrived.

Al Shifa looks very impressive and various people bustle around, smiling at me as they pass. Eventually a man strides in with the definite look of a trained masseur.

I spend an hour with him as he goes over my entire body section by section. Massage comes in many forms or styles and once again I find myself surprised. He hardly uses his fingers at all. Instead he uses his forearms and somehow does everything by pressing.

He more than gets the job done so I lie there and let him do it. My calves hurt as they always do and, as always, I fail to get any kind of explanation for this.

The dog that followed Irma back will follow me back and come into the yard hoping for another sausage. We will give her one. She will sit there eating it and then go to the gate for us to let her out.

Since the state has declared today Lockdown Sunday No 2 we will spend much of the rest of the day indoors listening to the music beamed loudly from the temple.

Ho hum we both say.