![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ISOLATION AND AFTER
Apr. 10th, 2020 01:37 pmIt's easy to start, difficult to see how it can come to an end.
My husband Mick and I began our isolation nearly 4 weeks ago after spending the weekend in York at Not The Lib Dem Conference (it had been cancelled only a day or two earlier, far too late to get our hotel or travel costs refunded). We spent a lazy weekend sightseeing, chatting with friends we met and having what felt a bit like a last supper on the Saturday evening, with friends, in an excellent Italian restaurant. As far as I know, all those present are still alive and thriving!
To begin with, isolation did not feel like anything special. We are retired so we often spend days at a time working at home or in the garden and not meeting or speaking to other people except by arrangement. But in normal times, there would be regular events and activities to punctuate our week, e.g. the choir I attend, and social life would build up as a result of phone-calls, emails and random conversations with friends when we were out and about. Some things are much the same: for years, I have phoned my children, and sometimes other relatives, on Saturday or Sunday to catch up with our lives. The difference now is that most of them are also at home so we can add more calls or texts during the week.
We celebrated Mick's birthday via Zoom and the choir is now a regular Zoom event. The Town Council wound down officially about 2 weeks ago at a meeting facilitated by email and we have had our first meeting of the Emergency Committee that is dealing with necessary business during lockdown using a system called JoinMe. Next month I shall take on the role of Mayor for what seems at the moment to be a unique and utterly unpredictable year. (I am planning to do a blog of my Mayoral year activities, whatever they turn out to be!)
Four weeks ago, I wrote The List of all the things I would try to do during this strange and wonderful opportunity to get on with life without interruptions. I have to confess that I have still got plenty to do! In particular, work in the garden is just beginning to demand more of my time and I hope that, for once, I will keep up with what I need to do. (Usually I get diverted by political campaigning at this point.)
How will it all come an end? I am confident that human ingenuity will succeed in producing reliable tests for who's infected and who's immune to Covid-19 and that there will eventually be an effective vaccine, but I'm not in any rush to step out of the garden gate and meet people at close quarters. Life feels very valuable today.
My husband Mick and I began our isolation nearly 4 weeks ago after spending the weekend in York at Not The Lib Dem Conference (it had been cancelled only a day or two earlier, far too late to get our hotel or travel costs refunded). We spent a lazy weekend sightseeing, chatting with friends we met and having what felt a bit like a last supper on the Saturday evening, with friends, in an excellent Italian restaurant. As far as I know, all those present are still alive and thriving!
To begin with, isolation did not feel like anything special. We are retired so we often spend days at a time working at home or in the garden and not meeting or speaking to other people except by arrangement. But in normal times, there would be regular events and activities to punctuate our week, e.g. the choir I attend, and social life would build up as a result of phone-calls, emails and random conversations with friends when we were out and about. Some things are much the same: for years, I have phoned my children, and sometimes other relatives, on Saturday or Sunday to catch up with our lives. The difference now is that most of them are also at home so we can add more calls or texts during the week.
We celebrated Mick's birthday via Zoom and the choir is now a regular Zoom event. The Town Council wound down officially about 2 weeks ago at a meeting facilitated by email and we have had our first meeting of the Emergency Committee that is dealing with necessary business during lockdown using a system called JoinMe. Next month I shall take on the role of Mayor for what seems at the moment to be a unique and utterly unpredictable year. (I am planning to do a blog of my Mayoral year activities, whatever they turn out to be!)
Four weeks ago, I wrote The List of all the things I would try to do during this strange and wonderful opportunity to get on with life without interruptions. I have to confess that I have still got plenty to do! In particular, work in the garden is just beginning to demand more of my time and I hope that, for once, I will keep up with what I need to do. (Usually I get diverted by political campaigning at this point.)
How will it all come an end? I am confident that human ingenuity will succeed in producing reliable tests for who's infected and who's immune to Covid-19 and that there will eventually be an effective vaccine, but I'm not in any rush to step out of the garden gate and meet people at close quarters. Life feels very valuable today.
