Day Eighty-four

Feest Isolation Days – 6 June

What did we used to talk about before Covid 19?  Oh I remember Brexit! But it’s another B that hit the newspapers this week (besides Boris!) –  Bonking!  The Sun – that newspaper we all know and love SO much – says that Boris has banned bonking!  Members from one household are not permitted to visit members from another household and stay the night. Apparently, according to the Sun, that means bonking is banned.  I don’t know about you, but as far as I am aware sleeping over night in someone’s house doesn’t necessarily imply bonking. It made me laugh though and in these Covid times that can’t be a bad thing!

We spoke to dear friends who live in Australia over breakfast for us and early supper and drinks for them. We discovered that in Western Australia where they live, the State was divided into eleven regions in lockdown and people couldn’t go from one region to another without written proof of need.  There were police and barriers on the roads stopping movement.  No wonder they have had not many infections and so few deaths.  Here, another friend in the know tells us that a second wave is expected in September.  We shall see.  Meantime, life goes on.

After spending forty five minutes on my exercise bike every day and doing my mat work, it seemed time to spread my wings.  I miss my swimming, (I know I know I’ve complained about this before but I really do!).  Thinking through what I missed made it possible even in these days of confinement to find a solution. 

Running has been off the agenda for me for years. Swimming means forty-five minutes of crawl plus a warm up and cool down. My strokes are fast, my glide in between strokes powers me through the water.  My gym has an outdoor pool and when we are in New Zealand the outdoor pool there is always a short walk away from our home in Parnell.  Most weeks I average three swims. Or did.  Breaking it all down I figured out I needed to be able to move faster than merely walking, and I needed to be outdoors and free to move at pace. Being able to leave the house safely and just go was also high on the list of requirements.  No prizes for guessing the solution! 

Yes I am now the proud owner of a brand new bike – not a Boris Bike! This month there was a bicycle boom and sales doubled with cycle shops selling out of many models. Terry put the bike together for me and made it possible for me to become reacquainted with a saddle and pedals.  Nothing fancy, not electric, just an “English” bike. 

When I learned to ride a bike in America, the brakes weren’t on the handles but on the pedals.  An “English” bike was defined by where the brakes were.   

Bonking is also very English. No, not the act but the word!  So lots of B’s today!  Bikes!  Boom! Brakes!  Bonking!  I’ll let you know how the bike and I get on.  With fewer cars out there it feels safer than it did last time I was on the road nearly ten years ago.  As for bonking…

Meriam Webster helpfully gives us a sentence – which I quote verbatim – using the word so we can all now be clear what bonking means:

Bonking – 1 transitive informal : hit  “Johnson isn’t the only one who has noticed the glut of acorns this fall. Walkers are getting bonked on the head, and cars are getting pelted by the falling nuts.”

Interesting that Meriam Webster associated (Boris) Johnson with bonking don’t you think?!

With love,

Kathy x