It brought me a sense of liberation, relief, and release to leave Facebook behind, a personal reject. No surprise there; I have never felt comfortable on most social media sites, just as being present at cocktail parties made me uneasy and feeling out-of-place. It's simply not my metier. Perhaps there's something about being casually social that attracts most people unlike myself, aside from maintaining contact with people who matter to them.

I'm not the least bit averse to face-to-face social contact among people I know well and have known for a long period of time, as why would I be? Nor do I shirk from brief and transitory social interactions with people more casually known to me. I appreciate those opportunities and enjoy them. And I tend to initiate greetings of social courtesy when I come across others whom I don't know. So obviously there's something deeper at play here. I have no patience for facade, for social conceits, for trends, and for celebrity gossip.

When I interact with those who have meaning for me, I favour doing so more privately and directly. Where once regular mail did the trick as a supplement to telephone contact (which has become more difficult for me as I have aged with the diminishing of my aural capabilities), I tend now to use email. Correspondence and conversations between friends and relatives are intimate exchanges, and not to be aired in public venues. To my way of thinking and gauging what is important in my life.

And speaking of comfort in intimate communications, my husband was given the extremely onerous and unpleasant task of selecting a baked delectable he would prefer for me to prepare this morning for dessert-time, this evening. He pored through a few cookbooks last night and came up with a recipe that appealed to him, and we agreed it would do.

So, this morning, because my husband communicated so effectively to me what his taste buds would anticipate experiencing, I baked a dark chocolate two-layer cake. I did alter the recipe slightly. And it certainly is a dark chocolate cake, with four squares of unsweetened baking chocolate giving it colour and flavour. I substituted Becel margarine for butter, and increased the amount; used two whole eggs rather than just the called-for yolks, and accordingly slightly decreased the amount of milk called for. Finally, because I detest the washing-soda taste of baking soda in baked goods, I used baking powder instead.

Voila! this evening's dessert...! Chocolate icing, of course, but I did go easy on it ....