Well, i've managed to see another year against all odds as a cancer-survivor in a high-risk group due to my age and compromised immune system engulfed in a coronavirus-rich environment abetted by climate vagaries and the threat of nuclear annihilation. This is the best time to be alive because i am.

Otherwise not much to report, the year has been relatively uneventful but i am grateful to just wake up to another day of tranquil existence, enjoying the simple diurnal activities necessary for comfort and survival. Happy to have food, shelter, water, electricity and internet. Otherwise i am writing and managing content on social media — gardening not so much now as the weather has turned and i'm still a hothouse flower. About half way through my memoirs, up to 2000 when i left Jamaica.

Am no monarchist but appreciate history, tradition and pageantry. I have now lived under the reign of three monarchs, first as a subject of George VI and Elizabeth II, then as a citizen of Jamaica under consitutional monarchs Elizabeth II and Charles III.
The 5 shilling note was my first weekly wage working in my father's shop. That same portrait was on my first exercise book. Then came the just ended New Elizabethan age with H.M.'s portrait on all our currency and stamps up until a few years ago when we switched to National Heroes. It remains to be seen what the new Carolean era will bring but i doubt Charles III's portrait will grace our currency or stamps, except perhaps for the odd commemorative.

Avatar as hunter-gatherer, closest i'll get to cosplay. Fantasy fun for now but you never know when systems break down. Meanwhile i'm making compost and building soil.

Some of the year's triumphs despite lack of rain, snails and heavy winds.
Far left - Hollyhocks finally after 2 years of trying.
Centre left - Crepe myrtle known as June rose in Jamaica, had to have to remind me of home.
Centre right - Sage and savory in bloom in the herb garden.
Right - Cymbidium bought bare root and rewarding with spectacular blooms.
Above - Delicate colours of Portuguese cabbage.

Such a pleasure to finally meet Matthew Chin with whom i'd been corresponding for years. He is assistant professor of gender studies and multidisciplinary scholar at University of Virginia with an interest in Chinese-Jamaican studies. Being intersectional, i am an obvious target for his research. He has published many papers focusing on GFM, JGN and my involvement. Matthew was instrumental in personally digitising the entire series of JGN issues, sourced from archives in Amsterdam, Toronto and from my personal archives, much of which has already been deposited to the Schomburg Library, and accessible online through D-LOC. He has encouraged me greatly in my writing and more importantly has agreed to be my executor, basically of intellectual property which is all the legacy i will have really. Already he is saddled with fulfilling Amazon orders for Wisdom for the Soul which function i cannot do from outside the US. Many thanks to him, and to Joshua Romanoff and Suzette Gardener, previous angels who helped me out.

Very pleased to have reconnected with Melanie Ghisays with whom i worked at MARS a lifetime ago. Her brother Dominic lives in the north of Portugal and she was here to settle on property she bought near to him. She was even able to present me with a bottle of extra virgin olive oilfrom her quinta. Impressive! It was great to spend time with them both and catch up on old times.

Another former DC native now in Germany, John Salatti and wife Andrea, made a detour of their trip to Fatima to see me. John and i were part of Friends of Macmillan, an advocacy group trying to stop the destruction of historic Macmillan Park in DC. The developers won and the bulldozers came in.

Huge shout out to Madine who has stayed here a couple times and brings me wine and cheese — naturally, he's French. He loves the bread i make so he's an alright guy in my books. He saved my life by lending me a laptop when mine crashed. I still have it as a spare, by my bed in case inspiration strikes me in the night.

Had not stayed in one place long enough to get to know the neighbours. Now having been in this location for 2+ years, happy to have Ruben Teixeira and his kids in the flat below. Rodrigo and Nita add vibrancy and playful activity to an otherwise tranquil existence. Their screams and patter of little feet are life-affirming and reassuring. They love to jump on my trampoline. They're like stand-ins for my great-grandnephews and -nieces who are far away, some i haven't met. Ruben and i exchange recipes in his slowly becoming vegetarian. I've introduced him to tea and kimchee, Szechuan pepper, pumpkin soup and stout punch. I get to practice Portuguese with him more now as the other residents have been mostly expats.

Kids are the future and i hope they will inherit a world worth having in which they can survive and thrive. What we do now will have an impact on them for years to come. Do the right thing, if not for yourself, then for them.