~{nilheadimage~=142081~}
I won't say much about the covid situation, as I went through the latest dire stats only ~{purplepost~=1274~;text~=yesterday~;target~=anniversary~}.

Suffice it to say that by the time we got to ~{purplepost~=1262~;text~=last month's review~;target~=june~}, Malaysia's covid death toll had gone beyond 5,000, and today, just a few short weeks later, we're staring 9,000 in the face (total deaths as of yesterday: 8,859)... On 2 July, the ~{link~= https://newslab.malaysiakini.com/covid-19/en ~;text~=seven-day average~;target~=fatalities~} for covid fatalities was 75; on 30 July, it was 163. Despite Malaysia's ~{link~= https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-covid-19-vaccination-experts-caution-no-silver-bullet-15304900 ~;text~=heroic vaccination efforts~;target~=vaccs~}, therefore, we're far from being out of these dark woods.

On Wednesday 14, however, after 46 days of MCO, Sarawak entered "Phase 2" (we're not calling them movement control orders any more; they're now "phases" in the ~{link~= https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/most-states-expected-move-phase-4-national-recovery-plan-october-earliest-%E2%80%94-pm ~;text~="National Recovery Plan"~;target~=nrp~}...)

We're enjoying being able to walk a bit further, but we still can't leave Kuching, "tourist activities" are still not permitted, and although we're allowed to eat out now, we don't (we're still awaiting our second vaccination).

~{nilimage~=142044~;dir~=H~;alt~=carpet~}
There have been several sobering anniversaries this month.

It's a year since we've seen any of our family, and of course there's one of them we'll never see again. It's a year since we ~{purplepost~=1274~;text~=returned to Sarawak~;target~=anniversary~}, with all the mixture of feelings that has involved. It's a year since we've set foot on an aeroplane (not in itself a bad thing, but without braving these ghastly, germ-ridden crates, family and friends far away remain inaccessible). It's a year since we tested positive for covid (and I really didn't think that a whole year later, I'd still be worrying about catching this damn thing, mutated and doubly malevolent -- but alas that anxiety is still with us).

Fortunately, the month has also been enlivened by some more straightforward anniversaries: ~{purplepost~=1265~;text~=Tynwald Day~;target~=tynwaldday~}, our ~{purplepost~=1268~;text~=wedding anniversary~;target~=33rd~}, and ~{purplepost~=1270~;text~=Sarawak Day~;target~=sarawakday~}. Every such event gets super-celebration treatment with us at the moment, with several days of festivities.

~{nilimage~=142087~;dir~=H~;alt~=plant~}
And, of course, the daily rounds continue. Vintage Travel is continuing to have a fallow phase, but The Velvet Cushion has been busy. There have been three screen posts (on ~{nilpost~=1266~;text~=asylum-seekers~;target~=asylum~}, ~{nilpost~=1269~;text~=Australian First Nations people~;target~=afn~}, and ~{nilpost~=1273~;text~=weddings~;target~=weddings~}); a language post (on the theory of ~{nilpost~=1267~;text~=comprehensible input~;target~=ci~}); and three discussions of novels (~{nilpost~=1264~;text~=The Spirit of my Fathers Keeps Climbing in the Rain~;target~=somf~}, about the "disappeared" in Argentina; ~{nilpost~=1271~;text~=Pachinko~;target~=pachinko~}, about the Korean community in Japan; and ~{nilpost~=1272~;text~=Promise at Dawn~;target~=pad~}, about the life, times, and inventions of French author Romain Gary).

I continue to be enormously thankful for books, films, and the multifarious riches of the Internet.

Despite the worsening covid situation, and all the reminders of the disappearance of a year, July has been a better month than June. It has been great to have the restrictions on our walking removed. Our second vaccination is now on the horizon, and with it -- hopefully, eventually, carefully, always depending on circumstances -- a way out of this holding pattern.

May it be...

~{nilimage~=142080~;dir~=H~;alt~=light~;caption~=Waiting for the light to return~}