Feest Isolation Days – 6 November
What a week! Lockdown started yesterday here in England, and in America, Donald Trump won’t go away. He thinks he’s packed the Supreme Court with enough people who will overturn the outcome of the election that Joe Biden may win. We still don’t know. But it is close! What a morally corrupt despot the man is. He has unleashed a wave of hate that is hard to watch. Let’s hope there will be some sanity restored soon.
Burglars tried to break into our garage last night. But they were foiled! Our shiny new mechanised garage door stopped them. Unfortunately, they have broken the door in the process so we have to get a new one.
The excess on our insurance is not insignificant. Just as well the thieves didn’t get in. I would have been unhappy if I lost my Lockdown bike and helmet which were literally just inside the door. There has been a spate of burglaries and bike thefts in our area. Car windows have been smashed in order to get the goodies people may have left inside. Covid hasn’t stopped thievery. In a further development just now, a neighbour from a street away rang the bell and told us he saw three young guys trying to break into the garage last night! These chaps were dressed in black with Halloween masks on and he saw them as he was parking his car. Shining the headlights on the trio meant they high tailed it. Solidarity in neighbourhoods is high! Bored and fed up young potential thieves is, sadly, also high.
The week has been a glorious one weather wise and it is hard to get too upset when the sun is shining and the birds tweeting and chirping as they ought. (and the thieves didn’t actually steal anything) Nevertheless, three Guardian writers Steven Morris Nazia Parveen and Helen Piddfrom proclaimed in an article that we in England are all united by our gloom. Speak for yourself you three writers!
We are not all feeling a sense of gloom. What’s the point? We are in lockdown whether we are miserable or content and for me content always wins. I am aware that I am in a fortunate position, there is no job to dash off to, I don’t have to worry about the bills, I’m not furloughed and there are no kids here to support. There isn’t anyone but my darling hubby and I here either. We are not able to have people round even in the garden, but we are allowed to walk with one other person. My diary has two friends a week booked in throughout lockdown. Keeping up with friends is important and walking is great. Win win. Pilates helps as well.
The routines we developed early on in the lockdown help. We order everything on line, still wash the groceries when our Key Worker brings them from Sainsbury’s, and continue to have tea or coffee together on the swing at the bottom of the garden a couple of times a day. Some days we will need an umbrella to get there and back, and other days gloves and hats, but we will still go. And we leave behind any devices. We enjoy the garden, each other’s company and a good chat about whatever. Having these sorts of moments together is important and a part of what keeps us bouncy and focused on the good things. It is our sanctuary. Where’s yours? And who do you share it with?
The weekend is upon us again and we might just have to go back to our friend Zoom to hold a dinner party or two. We won’t be sitting around anyone else’s table, or they ours for a month. Where would we be without Zoom? Choir! Pilates! Dinners! Courses! And the rest….
Lockdown Two, the sequel. Let’s hope it works. Take care. Stay safe, and whatever you get up to – enjoy!
With love
Kathy x