Social Isolation week 8
Here we are then, another week under our belts and still almost 500 people a day are losing their lives to this hideous illness. Countless thousands of others lie in hospital beds away from their loved ones, whilst underpaid care professionals to their very best whilst risking their own lives because there isn’t enough PPE.
The longer this now goes on, the more I see of what others are going through, the more blessed I feel to know my family are safe, that I have food in the fridge and a garden to sit in. Yes, I want the lockdown to be over so I can hug my family and friends, but I want those family and friends to be alive when the restrictions are lifted so I am happy to sit tight for as long as it takes.
I am writing this on Sunday morning, ahead of the Prime Minister’s “big announcement” tonight so we don’t know if things are about to change. Rumours are that the rules will be relaxed as this new ‘road map’ is set out but I am not going to speculate so we shall wait and see.
This is the week that the new track and trace app was launched on the Isle of Wight, to much fanfare. And debate. Some locals dont like the idea of being a guinea pig, other saying it only works when your phone is unlocked and drains your battery. Personally I think the idea is pointless and the only way we will be free of this virus is with a vaccine.
A million meals have been delivered to shielded people, by the government which is great news, but I am disappointed that I haven’t been called up to help. I signed up as a volunteer back in March and despite being constantly logged in to show I am available `I havent been asked to help once. So frustrating.
What has happened this week is that the bank holiday on Monday got moved to Friday so we could all celebrate VE Day. Sort of. The Red Arrows flew over Buckingham Palace, a Lancaster Bomber flew over the whole country, ships sounded their horns and The Queen addressed us all at 9pm, the exact same time her dad did the same thing 75 years ago.
This video was shared on Facebook and it made me cry.
My cooking mojo came back this week and on Tuesday I made not only a chicken and spinach curry, but onion and cumin naan breads, and aloo gobi. I know!! I don’t quite know where I found the energy from but cooking is giving me a purpose each day, and the time to do it so I am really trying to make the most of it. It is also teaching me that you can experiment and produce things that are edible. The naan recipe called for yogurt but I only had creme fraiche, which still worked a treat. Other culinary delights included a butternut and basil tart and a killer pile of dauphonaise potatoes.
It also struck me as I stood in the queue to get into Tesco on Thursday that we are all so starved of conversation we are now talking to people we encounter much more than ever before. I had a full blown chat to the plumber in front of me whilst we waited in the sun for 45 minutes, and the young man behind me negotiating with his bank to get a payment holiday on his car loan ended up chatting about much more than that, for longer than was necessary. I shall miss those conversations when we eventually go back to being head down, chuntering to ourselves and very much self isolating as we do the weekly shop in silence.
Image of holding a mug of tea, courtesy of Shutterstock