If it had not been for the COVID Monster, I wouldn't have finally taken the plunge and bought a lightweight portable harp - a Sharpsicle made by William Rees company in the USA.

I have known about the Harpsicle harps for decades but never found that the financial cost-benefit analysis came out in its favour because there were always other things more "important" to spend my money on. How could I justify buying another harp when I already have a large-ish one and another small one which I bought some years ago to take to our session group gatherings? Although it is small it is heavy and unwieldy.

Well, pre-COVID we held sessions either at my home or another person's home so I would play the 36 string harp at home and I bought a ukulele to play at the other place.

Then there were restrictions on how many people we could have in a house and also the social distancing rules so we started playing in a rotunda in a park. Braving the wintry weather, trudging across the very big park with the folding stool, harp, backpack, all the gear etc. Not to mention the prep of all the gear at home, getting it into and out of the car, and then doing it all over again to go back home. A few weeks later we started using a room at a local club and it was a bit easier because there were chairs and tables.

If I didn't take the harp I was not getting to play it with my friends so I finally bit the bullet and ordered the Sharpsicle - a purple one of course - at the end of July and waited till the first week of October for it to wend its tardy way across the ocean and then up to the harp supplier in Queensland and finally down to me in mid-coast NSW.

So it weighs 2.7 kg (6 lbs). I can lift it up with one finger. Yay! It has a sweet sound, and I can take it to the sessions any time I want.

The other big events were busking on St Pat's Day, a couple of days before our big COVID lockdown began - although I took the small-but-heavy harp that time - and then busking at a local shopping centre a few days ago to play Christmas carols. One lightweight Sharpsicle, a folding stool, a backpack. Cool!

The biggest news about the busking and playing in the park or the club is that I have only ever played the harp in public a couple of times before this year, IN MY WHOLE LIFE.

So this is big for me, and I have to thank the COVID Monster for pushing me out into the big brave world. Without conflict there is no personal growth. Every cloud has a silver lining or two.

(I am painfully aware of how much better off we are here in Oz with political leaders who could actually take charge of the situation for the good of all, so our silver linings are bigger than those of the U.S.)