I wrote this just over a year ago today. Little did we know then that our lives would, to some extent, still be on hold a year later!
Back in March 2020, when all of this started in the UK, none of us had any idea that it would last this long.
It smacked of a dystopian nightmare. Life felt unreal. It was unreal.
Now I understand what they mean by “the new normal”. With the exception of some of those crazy people who would rather die than not wear a mask, we are sadly becoming used to all of this. No longer does it feel strange to carry antiseptic, rubber gloves and masks everywhere one goes. Even keeping our distance from friends and avoiding people in the street has become second nature to us.
The last time OH (other half) and I entered a shop was in early March. Lockdown had not been officially announced but we knew it was coming. We were very impressed at the time because they were wiping down all the trolley handles with antiseptic – something many supermarkets did not do till many weeks later. And, some, for all I know, are still not doing now.
We went to Costco to stock up on loo rolls and other basics. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Costco, it is a huge warehouse piled high with goods, most of which you don’t need. But you’d be amazed what you see people buying there!
You have to be a member and this costs about £25 a year. This is to make you feel you are part of an elite club but it’s really just another way to get more money out of you. Judging from the other shoppers no one looks elite to me.
Many Costco goods are branded. Generally the cost is cheaper than for the same goods in a supermarket. However, you have to buy most things in bulk which doesn’t suit everyone. I think many of the people who shop there are in the catering business. No one could possibly need that many boxes of fish fingers or chicken sate. Costco also sells very large items. Hideous garden furniture (apologies to anyone who has ever bought any there), 60” screen TVs, children’s play houses and at Christmas – 10 foot high Father Christmases and snowmen. They also sell white goods. So you can easily go into Costco just to buy a few boxes of tissues and come out with a fridge.
OH and I have become almost self-sufficient during lockdown. We feel like characters in the Good Life, a popular BBC sitcom from the 70s which my older readers will remember well.
OH mows the lawn while I have been experimenting with seed sowing and even have the beginnings of some honeydew melons which I have grown from seed. I can’t see them ever turning into edible melons but it’s fun trying.
We are also attempting to grow our own cauliflowers, raspberries, strawberries, radishes and rocket. The cauliflowers have sadly been eaten by slugs, we have eaten the one raspberry, the strawberries have yet to appear and the radishes have disappeared. The rocket however is flourishing. The more you pick, the more you get. Unfortunately, one can’t live on rocket alone so we are still relying on regular deliveries from Ocado. They no longer hold the excitement they once held for us. It has become routine now to wipe groceries down before they can be put away. And then wipe all the door handles, surfaces etc. If someone had told me six months ago we would be doing this I would have laughed hysterically.
Venturing outside the house, it looks as if the world has gone back to normal. The traffic is bad – if anything worse than it was before lockdown. Not surprising as most people don’t want to risk using public transport if they can at all avoid it. Looking back I wonder if the people who survey this sort of thing will find that there was a huge reduction in car accidents from April-June. Aside of course, from those poor people who have been run over because they’ve stepped into the middle of the road to avoid joggers! Now lockdown has been relaxed I am sure we will see an increase in road accidents.
And what about food poisoning? Does the fact that we’ve all been assiduously and virtuously washing our hands mean that there have been fewer cases of sickness and diarrhoea? I’m sure the incidences of these must have lessened during the months when people weren’t eating out. Let’s hope that once lockdown is truly over people will want to keep up the habits they have learned of good hygiene.
Yesterday, after a walk, we bravely had a snack sitting outside at a park cafe. It turns out that the people serving were either not wearing masks at all or wearing them with their noses uncovered. I only found this out from OH after we had eaten what passed for food. If my blog goes quiet for a few days you will know why.
On the news we have heard people say that, if there is a new spike of cases, the over 50s will have to stay at home. The over 50s! In my experience, it’s the over 50s who are being careful and considerate. It appears that it’s younger people who have been partying in the parks and open spaces, leaving behind their litter of bottles, needles, food packaging and poo. In the field near our home we have seen large groups of families holding children’s birthday parties, everyone huddled together as if they had never heard of the virus.
The big excitement for us this week has been the return of the lovely young woman who helps out with the cleaning. Half her face was covered by a mask but I think it was her! The house is now sparkling. And it’s so good to know that we have one less task to do! Sad though that no one other than our good selves will see how clean the house looks. We are still entertaining on the “outside”. Friends enter the back garden by the side gate. We sit and chat – suitably distanced – over a cup of tea. And then they leave the same way they came in.
At the start of lockdown I told you that OH and I were attempting to sort out all our books. It took weeks but we have ended up with only two boxes of books we can bear to part with. For me, throwing out books is like getting rid of old friends. Many ended up just being dusted down and going back on the shelf. And although we’ve managed to reduce the number of books on our shelves we still don’t have enough room for the ones we’re keeping. OH has also been sorting out and cataloguing our collection of DVDs. Who has DVDs now I hear you ask? So old school.
As I write this, OH is visiting the dump. He spent time this morning clearing out our garage and loading up the car until it was jam packed. He just phoned to tell me he is in a queue. There are only about twenty cars in front of him, he tells me. Oh the joys of coming out of lockdown.
© Andrea Neidle, My Life in Poems
My Life in Poems 