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Published: March 24th 2020
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By my bedside I have a calendar. I tear off one day at a time. The topics they cover are all eastern in flavour. Some days I get a proverb which may be Korean , Chinese or Indian. Another day it will be some deep Buddhist philosophy. It may be the sayings of Gandhi or some Hindu seer . What seems noticeable at the moment is that each seems prophetic. As if someone already knew that we would be in the midst of a crisis that is world wide and knows no boundary. They are sometimes thought provoking, sometimes too complicated to understand but most of the time there is a message in them . I look forward to each morning ripping off another day to see what the thought is .
How about this one ? " The world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything". Swami Sivananda - I like this one . We live in a busy old world and it seems right that sometimes we are taken back to basics . Schools now take children out into nature and teach them in forest schools . We are being driven out of towns with
our gas guzzling diesel engines . We are encouraged or were encouraged to change from diesel to petrol or to hybrid cars . After months of floods , global warming , fires and whatever else happens we now get Corona virus. Perhaps its time to stand back and listen to the silence . To stop what we are doing and look up. We can see a clear sky with no airplanes leaving vapour trails .
So where are we up to? There seems only one topic of conversation on everyones mind - Covid 19. It has taken over our lives. Italy is still in its grip. Morgues full and crematoriums not able to cope. Spain has similar problems . It has not come as a surprise as when you travel to these southern European countries the elderly are very much in evidence . Elderly grey haired ladies sitting on stools outside their homes. Old men in cafes chewing the fat . Northern Europe has not escaped . Cases popping up in Belgium and Holland . Meetings of more than two people illegal in Germany . So what of our small isle ? We are social distancing - trying to keep 2 metres apart from anyone we come into contact with. Easier said than done . We hear nothing else on the news channels . Reports of new cases and deaths . The National Trust have kindly kept our parks open and made many free in the hope that people will exercise , enjoy the fresh Spring air sensibily . Motorhomers foolishly are still on the road . They are trying to take a holiday by isolating themselves in the remotest part of Scotland or Wales . Signs are appearing in Wales and in the highlands of Scotland telling people to go home . Scotland and Wales are closed . Do they take any notice ? No they carry on as if they are invincible . As they won't catch anything . We have Boris o'clock a nightly chat from our Prime Minister . We look forward to it in a perverse sort of way - looking to see how our government is faring with the crisis . He told us yesterday that on top of gyms and swimming baths closing every shop if it is not a retail outlet must close . Yet again we hear tales of the local pub opening its back door to drinkers . The law was changed and now they can lose their licence and be forced to close .
We carry on , we clean the patio and try out the new karcher . We clean the guttering out . I go for my constitutional in the morning before too many are out . I bring out Les Mis - too bulky to take in Gabby . Now I get the opportunity to read it . We get out the quiz book . Yes I had forgotten about amoeba, spiragyra and the Hydra from Biology lessons .
If there are lessons to learn its about time some people stopped putting their heads in the sand and realise we have to get through all of this . There will be light at the end of the tunnel and we will get away . Time to learn new things , listen to music and remain positive . Winchester and Salisbury will still be there after Coronavirus has long gone . I wonder what the rest of the day will bring . Necessity is the mother of invention . My mum would have loved to hear me say that and practice it .
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Jackie Harrison
non-member comment
Covid - 19
Glad you are keeping well and keeping busy! We are enjoying the glorious weather in UK, and after being in a lockdown in Spain for a week in cloudy weather, this is heaven! We are pottering around the garden, clearing out the shed etc and then in the afternoon we take the footpath at the back of our bungalow and across the field to our allotment. Its not a bad life!.Stay safe and keep well! x