Daragh's father was taken into palliative care this evening.

I've been keeping busy: baking banana bread, doing housework, bar cleaning, buying tonic water and candles for the bar, stocking the bar with bottles of whiskey stored in wardrobes, opening the bar, assembling a bookcase, walking the dog, looking for anything to do, really, to stave off worry and shock.

My favorite time of the day is when I've mopped the bar floor. It's all shining and pristine, and the day is finally done, and I've been useful, if only for a little while.

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Small, necessary, saving graces, then. A neighbour is keeping an eye on the cattle. My good friends dropped off dinner for me. Des and I spent late hours after closing, gossiping, listening to jazz, and smoking cigarettes with hot water bottles in our laps. And as I walked the dog this evening, a double rainbow appeared above the town.

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