Was it an asteroid or what?

For days now I've been walking around with a big sly smile on my face.

I see people staring, wondering what's wrong with me.

I see kids pulling at their mothers' skirts and pointing at the silly woman singing to herself.

Some are reaching for their mobile phones ready to speed dial the men in white, whilst others pretend to look the other way.

But I'm so disgustingly cheery, that I don't care.

You see, with the days getting longer, and the sun shining so brightly, I know that it is just a matter of time before I can exhale through my frosted nostrils, and live a little.

Soon, I'll be able to relax my stiff neck muscles, my fingertips will start to thaw nicely, and my sickly yellowish skin will once again acquire its healthier shade of bronze.

If I add all this to the idea of bidding goodbye to runny noses, freezing sheets, and muddy potholes, I could very easily be chirping all day.

Thing is this however, I'm so happy summer is around the corner, that I can't wait for it to arrive, so in an attempt to accelerate the defrosting process, last weekend I visited our sister island for a short sunny holiday.

The plan was to chill on a beach, wine glass in one hand, a book in another, and to let the waves and the sun rays lull me to sleep.

I thought I had the perfect plan even though in my haste, I had forgotten to consider the hourly applications of sunblock, and the need to entertain two children under ten.

Still, even after coming to my senses, I thought my plan was entirely doable... until I got to the ferry that is.

Of course I knew that it was a long weekend and that everyone and his brother were off to Gozo, but I've done this a million times before and I've never had to wait for four ferries to come and go before I boarded, and I certainly never had to wait for three hours in what is essentially an industrial war zone.

Anyway, once on the ferry, I was ready to put all this aggravation behind me because usually, once I land in Gozo, the atmosphere is so serene, the roads and signs are so well organised, that despite having the sense of direction of a blind moth, I automatically switch to peaceful Zen mode.

Sadly, this time I couldn't because instead of the traffic- free smooth roads that we're used to find on the other side of the channel, we found a battlefield.

To make our way to Xlendi, we had to navigate through an endless maze of uprooted ditches, make our way through dusty villages, and drive through unlit trenches which disguised themselves as roads.

We finally got there in double the time that it would usually take and with rattled bones and a slight case of whiplash. The whole ordeal was such a nightmare that once we got to Xlendi we decided not to drive anywhere else, and we stayed put for the whole duration of our visit.

I don't know how long it's going to take the authorities to fix this mind-numbing Gozitan disaster, and though my better judgement and experience tells me that it won't be sorted by the summer months, I'm crossing my fingers, arms, legs and eyes, and hoping that it will.

If not, I'll have to do what I did last weekend - drink cups of crazy, soak in the sunshine, and let the Gozitan charm take me over.

Pity though, as tourists, Gozo's lifeline to the world, are not known to rationalise this way!