8/17/20, Grateful

Hi Everyone,

I hope that all is well with you, and maybe you’re even managing to go on vacation!! I hope so. (I cancelled my vacation this summer because my kids couldn’t come to France with the borders closed. So our traditional every year without fail family vacation had to be cancelled and I’m working this summer instead) In France, EVERYONE takes July or August off (5 weeks by law) for vacation, so just about everyone has gone somewhere for vacation, and even if they didn’t go away this year, most people aren’t working. But people in France, and in Europe, do everything they can to take a vacation in summer. (In the US, we spread out our vacations throughout the year. But in Europe, it’s July or August). And I hope you’re still following the Covid rules if you’re away on vacation.

With people moving around in Europe, a lot of movement between France, Italy, Spain, some to Croatia, and people coming from Germany and England, the numbers have gone up again slightly, and we’ve been warned to be careful, wear masks, social distance and stay out of crowded places. Young people have the hardest time following the rules, and flock to the beaches, bars that are open, and night spots. So the government (and their parents) are reminding them to be careful. More young people than older people are catching the virus now, not always severely, but they can infect others, so EVERYONE has to be careful and respect the rules, not just for their own safety, but for others.

There was a massive heat wave in Paris for the last week, over 100 degrees every day, with very little air conditioning anywhere, so we were all frying!!! It was blazingly hot, and Lili, Blue and Minnie were NOT happy. I kept dousing them with water. The temperature has gone down a little now, to ‘hot’, from ‘broil’. And I hear it’s as high as 107 degrees now in parts of California. Long hot summer. And hard to wear masks in the heat, but we have to. I stayed home and did a lot of writing. Most of the time, it was just too hot to go out, so I didn’t.

Everyone I know is on vacation somewhere else, but two friends came home, so I had dinner with them (outdoors, in restaurants with outdoor dining, which I prefer in summer anyway, and now with social distancing). Most people will start wandering back to Paris in the next two weeks, and go back to work. And I’ve been working all month (all year). It’s been hot and quiet, and lonely at times, but productive.

And as has been the case since the beginning of the pandemic, it all boils down to seeing the glass as half full or half empty—-you can either think of all the things that have gone wrong, all the things we are missing (My kids!!!), all the things that have been cancelled and aren’t happening (concerts, sports, and more importantly many weddings)——OR we can see the unexpected blessings that have come from this, the friendships that have deepened, the romances that have started, (I know several people who have met people and started new relationships since the pandemic began. And a lot of people seem to have gotten puppies), we can be grateful we still have our jobs if we do, or some are hopeful that they’ll find better jobs when all this is over….we can be grateful for the roofs over our heads, for the people that we love and who love us, grateful that we and our loved ones are healthy. There is always a LOT to be grateful for, if you take a good look. And I can already see lessons that I’ve learned as a result of the challenges we face in the pandemic, not necessarily lessons I wanted to learn or volunteered for, but lessons that will serve me well in future.

If we can find things to be grateful for, the time will go faster, and the end result will be a lot more pleasant. So I’m grateful for my many blessings. And thank YOU for reading my books during these challenging times. I have a new book coming out tomorrow, on Tuesday, “Royal”. I hope you love it, its historical fiction, about a British Royal family in World War II, whose youngest daughter disappears….and secrets that come to light and are revealed twenty years later. I really hope you enjoy the book and it gives you some happy moments.

Thank you for everything, my faithful readers and special friends. I am sooooo Grateful for you!! Have a great week!!!

love, Danielle