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Published: April 3rd 2020
Day 13 and Day 14 of the lockdown - I am running out of places to go and walking spots . My brain is lacking ideas of what to write . Who would have thought that I would find it so hard? As I walk I try to just feel thankful I can walk somewhere into open countryside . . I look about me to try to see something new . This lockdown is dragging on and on and we feel very unlucky. Should we though feel lucky ? We are able to stand still and listen to the silence . We feel as if we have been taken back to a much more peaceful and less rushed time. The absence of vehicles on the road is a bonus. Mother Earth might just be able to heal herself with less emissions . Everyone is trying to remain positive . Has Italy reached a plateau? There are still deaths but the rate of cases of Covid 19 have perhaps slowed down. We hope that is a good sign .
We sit at the moment waiting for Boris o'clock where we get our latest update . Boris is still sick and his
trusty sidekick Nick is on the TV. He tells us what a good job the NHS are doing despite not having enough Covid 19 test kits. Someone is buying them up somewhere in the world . Folks at home with 3 D printers are making plastic shields and local companies are pulling together and making surgical masks and gowns. We are all in this together he tells us . He then explains that folks are driving again . They are ignoring the stay home only go out for necessary things . Petrol is so cheap they are almost giving it away. He clarifies the question on everyones lips . Can we go out in the car to a beauty spot and walk ? Fool of a man he says yes . So that will mean Snowdon will be full again with day trippers and so will the Brecon Beacons and the Peak District . . We hear the same mantra every day - we are providing more beds , we must stay home , we must protect the NHS and we must save lives . Somehow the news seems just to be more of the same . The government talk of incredible achievements . Somehow walking on my own around the village does not make it seem that we are making these achievements. 750,000 volunteers signed up to help the vulnerable . We are given the numbers of those with the disease . We hear how many are admitted to hospital and are told how many have passed away. Are we learning anything I wonder as I listen? We are told that we are doing the right thing . We are pulling together as a country . We will defeat the virus .
April is a lovely month - if it were not for Covid 19 we would be enjoying the Spring after a long long winter . We are three weeks away from what would have been our holiday . We feel saddened that Gabby is parked up on the drive and is going nowhere . It is that time when I would be out and about . Swimming in the morning . 64 lengths up and down. Mentally counting the lengths , watching the folks coming in or leaving having completed their morning swim. I would have counted the light fittings , mentally searched out the colours around the building as I swam up and down for an hour. Walking does not have the same effect on me. Mentally it is brilliant and fresh air a bonus. But it plays havoc on my hips, knees and ankles. I ache where I have never ached before. They say that walking is good for the heart, the lungs, wellbeing and if you walk 40 minutes every day you will lose one pound of weight each week. I must be making up for the pound loss drinking a well earned glass of wine every night .
If things had been normal I would be packing bags now . Beginning to check if we had enough clothes for a month away. Enough towels , a bathing costume just in case. I would have made lists of what to take and ticked them off. The butterflies would have begun . As each day was counted down my list would have got longer. What food do we need to take ? Scandanavia is more expensive than Britain. We would need a good supply of dried food. Perhaps Corona Virus is teaching us something about food, what we need and how we store it. There may be a lesson or two there. We have our cards topped up with cash - plenty of Euros already purchased and waiting to be spent . They will not go to waste . We miss going out in Gabby . Glenn would have given her a good clean out. We would have checked her tyres , the air in them. All the things we needed to be on top of for a month in Europe. Even if everything went back to normal today I doubt travel would be possible . This is going to be 27 days of misery as each day we would be creeping closely to our trip up north. Will we ever get to Scandanavia?
What else would I do different ? I realise that an exercise bike might be a good purchase just to break up the endless walking . A set of kettle bells perhaps? Tins of beans just dont cut the mustard as weights for exercise .
" I follow the dictates, face it, accept it, deal with it - then let it go" Sheng - Yen - Sheng Yen, born Zhang Baokang, was a Chinese Buddhist monk, a religious scholar, and one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. An excellent thought - takes me back years to a manager in a past life who uttered the immortal words "Park it and move on !!!!"
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Jackie Harrison
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Lockdown!
We are out of self isolation tomorrow - and I have just had an email from Sainsburys that only one of us is allowed to go shopping! I never thought we would be fighting over who is going to go grocery shopping!! Have a look online for Joe Wickes - The Body Coach - he does a lot of 20 minute workouts with 30 mins exercise and 30 mins rest! Something to suit everyone!! Today I am planting peas in pots, cleaning conservatory and sorting washing out - may treat myself to doing a jigsaw or reading a book after we have been to the allotment for our exercise!! Oh for travelling! I dont think we will make it to Amsterdam this year for the tulips and Japan looking doubtful also!! Stay safe! xxx