Right now, our world could not be weirder. Here we all are, two and a bit weeks in, still at home in a silenced, shut down country, and Johnson is in intensive care. The virus has wreaked havoc across the world and economies are collapsing, while Battleaxe and Philosopher make the best of what we have – and acknowledge that we have a lot.
People reading this after I am gone will wonder what the hell was going on back in 2020. Across the world, China seems to be returning to normal, so clearly this virus will burn itself out eventually. All plagues do, of course, even the Black Death. Italy and France show some signs of stabilisation, Germany is smugly enjoying the results of a mass testing marathon, but the US is running riot. Here in the UK, we are apparently a bit behind other countries in reaching some theoretical ‘peak’, our testing performance is still pretty woeful, and case numbers and deaths continue to rise (but of course as we only test people in hospital, and now a few NHS workers, our figures are wildly inaccurate). Furthermore, although most people seem to be compliant, a minority are not. This situation will not be helped by Johnson’s illness. His supposed Deputy, Dominic Raab, will only say he is ‘standing in for the Prime Minister whenever necessary’ rather than reassuring the public that he is acting Prime Minister and firmly in control. People need a leader at times like this and not to read about ‘power vacuums’ on the news channels. It is hot weather and Easter weekend coming up…
In regard to Johnson, I would not wish COVID on anyone, but undoubtedly, earlier on, his cavalier attitude, lack of preparation, and mixed communication messages have contributed to our present predicament. The Government also do not seem to have yet realised that being in intensive care means that someone is very ill. The Prime Minister is not going to leap up from his bed, trot back to Downing Street and get stuck in to work again any time soon. It may well take weeks. Hopefully, the PM’s illness might make him realise that he is not protected from ordinary life by position and privilege, and to value the NHS staff getting him through this. We keep hearing that he is in ‘excellent spirits’, but being in the ICU and finding it hard to breathe is more likely to mean that he is scared shitless.
One thing that this situation has brought home to me is the difference between the Haves and the Have Nots. There is much banging on in the media about Staying Home and selfish people going to parks, beaches etc, but it is only the Haves that have homes that provide any space and privacy, let alone any outside space. This cartoon – which I believe was in the Telegraph, says it all…
I know during my time working in social housing that living spaces got ever smaller, with paper-thin walls. The nasty Tory Bedroom Tax forced further reductions to living space. Bored neighbours will be noisy. Imagine living in a hot, cramped flat with small children, or difficult teenagers. Many people live in rented house or flat shares, with only their bedrooms as private space. Why would you not want to go out into the fresh air in a local park? Again, the Government has not specified the rules of behaviour simply and clearly enough. Things like ‘You must not sit on benches, or use playgrounds. Keep dogs on leads. Keep two metres apart from anyone who is not in your household. Do not have picnics’. How can it be so difficult?
Battleaxe and Philosopher are Haves. We have a spacious house all to ourselves, a lovely garden, and are strong and healthy enough to enjoy lovely walks from our front door. I would happily volunteer to help others, but as I am 70, I have been told I can’t. Here are a few pictures from today’s walk in the Country Park – celandines, wood anemones bluebells and wild garlic all out at once. And of course, the weather is fabulous.
We eat well – too well. Food is of great interest right now and I am putting on weight, despite miles and miles of walking. We went to Sainsburys yesterday. Only I could go in as they won’t accept couples, and you had to queue with your (sanitised) trolley two metres apart. Then you were let into the store a few at a time. It was absolutely fine. The days of panic-buying crushes are over. It was highly organised, there was lots of stock and it was wonderfully empty. I got everything we needed and more.
We have also tried to help local businesses by ordering plants, meals to be delivered etc. I know that so doing puts the deliverers at risk, but many are so desperate about their business survival. Owners of garden centres say that millions of their plants are dying. Battleaxe says, get more proactive. Get a truck, load it with plants, drive round streets like ours with a loud-hailer and out we’d come in our hundreds…
Digby the cat is a bit of a trial at the moment. Just when there are wild reports in the media that cats can catch coronavirus, he is busily drawing attention to himself by caterwauling round the neighbourhood at night. A new cat has obviously moved in nearby – an inoffensive-looking little creature, but Digby is a possessive, jealous soul and does not like anything that potentially threatens his little kingdom. This morning Philsopher dropped a note round to all the neighbours apologising for the night-time noise, but also asking them not to stroke him. We have always suspected that his generous embonpoint might be due to other people feeding him… anyway he is entirely oblivious to the current collapse of society as we know it…
