Covid-19 one year on.

                                                                

Hello Everyone,

Believe it or not we have been in this pandemic situation for twelve months. How things have changed. I thought I would share with you the first couple of days of my journal. When I began I expected it to be for the initial twenty-one day lockdown in the UK. How wrong can you be? 

“Lockdown time

Good morning. It is 11.23 Tuesday morning, 24^th March 2020. I am reclining on the sofa with my cuppa, (no not wine, well in a week or two, maybe) of coffee and watching Holly and Phillip on television. ‘This Morning’ they tell us has been declared essential in these trying times. The sun is shining, soon I shall go out and collect the bins. I heard the bin men come earlier and that is about all that is normal in this unprecedented situation.

 

Last night at 8.29 Boris Johnson, our PM, made an announcement. He explained the dire Coronavirus situation and desperate measures of isolation which must be taken in order to save lives. We already had restrictions in place, working from home where possible, self isolation, public places where peeps socialised advised to close, parks and open spaces staying open for exercise but we must stay 2 metres a part. Sadly, we have idiots in our community who decided to see the pleasant weekend as a holiday. They rushed to holiday spots and got as close to each other as they could. So now, we are in lockdown. Pretty soon, I guess most countries will be in the same situation. Some already are.

 

As many of you know I am a night owl. I rise late and am awake until the small hours. So, it was 10.30 when I strained myself to get out of bed on auto pilot. I walked into my library and looked out on to our little street which by this time of day is normally a car park. Today, just residents’ cars. No cars on the distant Tesco car park and very few vehicles on the road. At last peeps have heeded the warning and are forced to conform. Once dressed I visit the computer for email and games on FB. Was there a life before social media? Where would we be now without it?

 

Then, I staggered down the stairs, something which is getting harder with age. Breakfast time and turn on downstairs television and iPad. The first thing I do and have done for a week is look at the updated number of Coronavirus cases locally. Depressing and frightening. Today, it’s 31. What will it be tomorrow?

 

Before the second cuppa I decided to go out at the back of my property and bring the bins in. I looked down the street and someone was taking the opportunity to clean her car but too far down to engage in conversation. Then another vehicle came round the corner, an opposite neighbour. Apparently, he had been out for essential items like milk and found it extremely difficult to find any. One of the supermarkets had an unimaginable queue of peeps clinging to trolleys at a safe distant apart. He eventually bought milk from a corner shop. Yes, we had social intercourse but were two metres apart.

 

After the second cuppa I returned to the library and worked at the computer while admiring the outside world. It was like being in that parallel universe I frequently talk of. So few vehicles and I observed two buses pass both without passengers. I guess the usual ones are senior citizens with passes and they are all in self isolation.

 

Later, I came back downstairs and opened up my porch/conservatory for the summer. During the winter months I only use it as storage. Soon, it will be full of beautiful plants with room for a chair so that I can sit in it and enjoy our glorious summer which will come at the end of this insanity.

 

For the rest of the day I have played games and watched television. I made one phone call. Part of my survival programme is to phone one person each day. I predict the telephone will make a come back and peeps will actually talk as opposed to texting. Right now, I’m watching a rerun of ‘Midsomer Murders’ with a glass of wine. As of yet I have not succumbed to the chocolate but tomorrow who knows?

 

Soon, I’m going to enjoy a bubble bath before retiring. Hey we’ve survived day one of lockdown and to quote Scarlett O’Hara , ‘tomorrow is another day’.

 

Day 2,

 

Good morning! The sun is still shining. First things first, do I have a temperature or cough? No, so thankfully I have not yet succumbed to this virus. Thank you, Lord, for sparing me. If you remember, peeps, I lost my insignificant other to Cancer last September. He was a medium and I recall what he said after the 911 terrorist attack. It was the beginning of many bad things, there would be more attacks, floods, and disease. It was going to be like the plagues of Egypt all over again and when it’s over the world will be a better place. Is this the last of the new plagues?

 

Breakfast time and I check the local number of cases, it is still 31. I guess that’s some good news for now. The breaking news is that Prince Charles has contracted the virus, even royalty is not immune. I wonder what would be on the news if there were no Coronavirus?

 

My plans for the rest of the day? First, second cuppa. Still no wine at breakfast time but I did finish a bottle off last night. Then, I’m gonna get the car out of the garage and clean the interior, maybe the outside. That depends on how energetic I feel. Later, I shall continue repotting or taking cuttings from my plants and put more of them into my summer conservatory. Yes, I’ll be watching television and on the computer. I shall also make my daily phone call. Have made a list and will phone Shirley, someone I met on hols a few years ago. I have decided to plan each evening for what I intend doing the next day. I may not stick to it but it’s worth a try.

 

As a writer I am used to solitude and self-isolation so you would think this lockdown would be easy for me. No. The difference is one of choice. My freedom and freedom of choice has been taken from me. In one sense we are being treated like prisoners. Loss of freedom through no fault of our own or if we are suffering new plagues maybe it is our fault for choosing materialism over humanity during the last decades. We have become selfish and greedy people as opposed to considerate human beings. Just look at the empty supermarket shelves.

 

I’m now thinking about prisoners. Are they thinking, now you know how we feel? Anyway, we must all stay positive and united through this madness.

 

Here I am again. It is 7.15 and I’m watching ‘Emmerdale’. The day has gone pretty well, all things considered. The car has had an interior clean and the surplus grime has been removed from the exterior. Full wash? Too energetic and not essential in these trying times. Yes, more plants are sorted and looking pretty in the conservatory. The birds have been fed. 

 

I made that phone call and, I think, I brightened the day for someone. She seemed to think it was a good idea. I have another victim ready for tomorrow.

 

Today, we have all been aware of the best and the worst of people. Over 400,000 have answered the Governments call for help. At the other extreme there’s profiteering and those trying to steal NHS workers identity badges to get priority at supermarkets. On a positive note, it does seem that the message is hitting home. Fewer people congregating and more staying at home.

 

Somehow, we will get through this. I have plans for tomorrow."

Wow! My friends, this is not over. The third wave has arrived. We have another twelve months of this so brace yourselves. Accepting it and learning to live with it is the only way to survive and thrive!

Stay safe. Love, Lady M xxxxx