Another weekend at the summer house on Orust. You can’t escape the pandemic, it hangs over everything like the proverbial “wet blanket”. Out here we can let ourselves be immersed in the ecstasy of spring and the coming of summer and forget about the virus, at least for a moment.

On Saturday morning we sit outside on the porch in the sun and get some colour on our pale, white faces, without freezing our butts off. A small but significant sign that we have surely left winter for this time around.

The water is a 2,3 km walk from the summer house. We pack a thermos and some sandwiches and stroll down to where we go swimming in summer. As long as you stay in the sun it’s warm and there is only a light breeze to begin with.

Last year, when Cooper was just a puppy, he never really took to swimming. He went in a few times but did not really seem to enjoy it. This time we had no trouble getting him in the water. It was too cold for humans but for a labradoodle it was perfect, if you sprint over the granite cliffs like a rabid greyhound to warm up afterwards.

There was a fire at the plastics factory in Stenungsund in the evening. A warning came on the TV advising people in the vicinity to stay indoors and close their windows and doors. We are a good distance from there but the smoke could be seen from the drone when I flew it up to an altitude 120 metres.

So, life seems so normal. It’s spring, the birds a chirping, the leaves are sprouting, there is that feeling of ecstasy over nature’s cycle of rebirth. At the same time Covid-19 is affecting everything, everywhere. People are dying, hospitals are overloaded, doctors and nurses are overworked and at risk of getting ill, and the economy is taking a beating. Even democracy is coming under threat as countries try all sorts of different and desperate ways to deal with this pandemic.

Being in, and enjoying, the moment will not make Corona go away, but it may give a little bit of energy to keep coping. We are still the lucky ones.