Feest Isolation Days – 2 July
It’s the small steps that you take that get you back into the world. Some days there are breakthroughs. Without especially planning it but letting it flow, I went for a walk and for the first time in over three months, I went into a shop. I always said the first thing I would buy was going to be flowers. And there they were. The Better Foods health food shop on Whiteladies Road, not far from our house keep flowers on the sidewalk. Or pavement. Sometimes I can’t remember – American or British which is it sidewalk or pavement? There were gorgeous, glorious lilies outside the door of the shop and I couldn’t resist. They were forty per cent off the original price and I took the plunge. I picked up the lilies and went into the shop to pay for them. There were arrows on the floor telling me which direction I should walk and there was no one else in the shop. The Perspex between the man at the till and me was comprehensive. I hadn’t paid for anything out in the world for such a long time I had to stop and think how contactless payments worked. Did I need my PIN number? Oh dear what’s my PIN number? No I didn’t need it. Contactless. The clue is in the word. You don’t have to touch the machine with your card to pay. The lilies were only ten pounds. I told the nice young man behind the counter that it was the first shop I’d been in since March and he said he was delighted that I found such pretty flowers. He told me they looked like they were cut especially for me. It was a strange and wonderful experience. Tiny steps.
The rate of infection in Bristol is so minimal we must begin to ease our lockdown. There have only been10 cases in the past week. These tiny steps are continuing. We are going to have dinner with friends in their house in the next few weeks. Like us, they have been scrupulous. We will socially distance and be cautious. But we will soon be together. In a home. With great friends.
After a socially distanced walk with a friend in Ashton Court, a lovely wooded area of Bristol, we went to the outside café which was serving drinks and small items of wrapped food. I bought a cup of tea. There were marks on the ground telling customers where we should stand, hand sanitizer before we went to the window to order and collect, and a large Perspex window between the woman who made my tea and me. Again, contactless payment meant we never touched. Drinking the tea sitting on the grass as my friend and I chatted away felt so utterly and completely normal. A woman passed us by with a much older woman and the younger woman called out “Mother! Avoid these people, go further away.” Her mother hadn’t got the idea of socially distancing, but she was in good hands. Her daughter sorted her out.
These easing moments are all so special. They make it seem as though life is slowly beginning to return to something we recognise and remember. Let’s hope there are many more moments like this. We aren’t there yet, but we are getting somewhere.
Things will open up – but until then… Be safe, socially distance, wash your hands, and enjoy!
With love
Kathy x