Day Fifty-four

Feest Isolation Days – 7 May

if you’ve read any of these isolation days entrees, you no doubt know by now that we are enamoured with New Zealand.  We have spent every winter there for eight years in a row, and we also worked there for a year.  We have made many many good friends and it has truly become our second home. Several friends from there were meant to visit us here this year and over the years the traffic has been both ways, Bristol- Auckland- Auckland- Bristol.  Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister announced this week that it will be a very long time before the New Zealand borders are open. My heart became heavy on hearing that. Not only will not be able to return there, but our friends will not manage to head this way either.

This is not good news for us but we make the best of what  we can. Thank heavens for Zoom!  This morning my pals from Auckland included me in their book group.  When we worked there, one of my colleagues invited me to join the group and every year since our return, wherever we are in Auckland, our house is the place for the summer meeting.  What a treat seeing them all again and connecting with the land and people we have grown to love. They have been on lockdown as well and are beginning to head towards the next phase of awakening.  The same sorts of things we moan about here are irritating many of my female friends there, too.  We all are most fed up with cleaning our houses!  It takes so long and none of us are used to it.  The problems of the privileged.  All I can say is it was all a lot easier when I was younger. 

This evening, there is more from Auckland on Zoom.  My Pilates teacher joins me electronically once more in my garden room and will put me through my paces.  She is amazing and we hope to carry this on for months and months to come.

As lockdown continues our routines are becoming embedded in our way of life and  the new normal includes such different things! I secretly love the chance to see my NZ friends and am delighted that there will be at least one more Zoom book group.  I don’t want them to end…I miss my pals and the thought of not seeing them this year is sad. Zoom beats nothing.

On the positive side, here “Theatre” trips with friends have returned. Friends watch the same performances on line at roughly the same time we do and then we have a meal and discuss it. It worked so well last week we are doing it with a different couple this week.  Roll on Friday!  Friends!  Wine!  Theatre!  (almost) Normal. 

Tomorrow we plan to go for our weekly country walk.  I must admit yesterday when we planned it I really needed the idea of getting out of the house.  For some reason, it felt like time to break out of all of this now, it’s been long enough!  I wanted to go out for dinner and drink my tea in a coffee shop with a girlfriend and go to the actual  theatre, and to the ballet and to London! I want to hug the kids and the grandkids and drive around going nowhere just for the hell of it! But today, after two Zoom book groups and the conversations after with friends on What’s App, life feels fine again. Normal?  Nearly!

My friends with younger grandchildren tell me that a certain restlessness has set in for some of the kids and they are becoming quite fatigued by lockdown. The little ones want to get back to their friends at school and get out of the house. As do the teenagers who are in limbo as their exams are cancelled and the work they’ve done is complete for now. They miss their boyfriends/girlfriends and their life that came to a juddering halt.

Grandparents who are seeing the younger kids electronically keep coming up with different ways to engage with them.  One of our friends is cooking with the little ones electronically, making cupcakes, or small cakes and even pancakes together.  Each person in their own house, mum and dad ensure the ingredients are to hand, and depending on the age of the kids, they can be on their own with grandma.  It’s a way of amusing the kids and keeping up that important grandparent connection.

Conductor Sweet!  Why we love kids. This child was well amused!

The weather here is tempting us once more to be outdoors and by tomorrow for our long country walk it is even supposed to be warm!  I’ll let you know.

Meantime, keep on going everyone, and enjoy the beauty all around you.  And remember, you wouldn’t be “normal” if there weren’t a few down moments.  We all have them. For now, I need to rein in my inner swimmer (really missing those pool moments) and get back on my stationary bike and go and read (or write!) my book! Tomorrow is indeed another day!

With Love

Kathy x