A Year of Living Strangely (One Year of Lockdown 1, Day 78 of Lockdown 3)
It's been an entire year since we went into lockdown here (at least a week too late). This morning I looked at the post I made the day after the announcement and I sounded quite calm. It's really hard to look back now and remember what it felt like because, as we were saying in my Pilates class, it both seems a short time ago and a very long one. Time is behaving strangely as the weeks speed by with nothing to mark them. We've been mostly lucky and have had it reasonably easy, for others it has been a nightmare. I feel intensely sorry for people with elderly parents and people on their own, but even for us it has had its bad moments. We've found that when the sun shines we're fine, but when the weather is grey and gloomy it's much harder, so this last lockdown has been quite tough. We were both trying to decide how we felt at the weekend and I said "weary" and J said "trapped" and if we feel like that other people must be far worse.
I called this post "The year of living strangely" but actually, in a way, it isn't strange at all. The way we live at the moment has definite similarities with my 1960s childhood, when foreign holidays were rare, people shopped more locally, the milk and bread were delivered, and even living where we do, going into ("up to") London was an unusual event. I wrote to a friend in the first lockdown that I felt as if I was living my grandmother's life completely centred around the house and in this third one that feels even more true. I thought a lot about my grandmother in the first lockdown because there were moments of concern about getting food and she had had to provide food for a family in the Second World War. When I say concern about getting food that's a bit dramatic as we were never going to be short but as we don't have a car and were trying to limit our trips to the shops as much as possible it was a case of having to really think about what we needed if we couldn't just pop out and get it and making sure we didn't run out of essentials. Things are much easier now with plenty of supermarket delivery slots but it was a worry to start with.
It hasn't all been bad. We've got to know Rex and our other neighbours much better, which has been nice. It has been good to feel at least a little bit useful helping Rex out, but if we hadn't done it somebody else would have done and if no-one could help there were local groups available. At one point both Rex and another neighbour were getting boxes of fruit and veg unexpectedly turning up on their doorsteps and we were the lucky beneficiaries of the things they couldn't eat, which got quite funny. We also know our local area *much* better as there has been nowhere else to go!
We've even managed to achieve a few things this year. Last summer our garden looked better than it has for years and we grew some of the most delicious tomatoes I've ever tasted. We need to get going again with all of that. We will never be natural gardeners but we did feel quite proud of ourselves, particularly as most of the good stuff was grown from seed. Our kitchen has been rationalised and we've started on the bedroom refurbishment project. I know I keep complaining about all the sorting of family stuff I haven't done but when I think back on it I have done a few things that really needed doing, particularly preserving some of the material concerning my dad's elder brother which I've digitised and sent to an archive that was interested in it.
After the initial glitch with food we've become much more creative in where we source food from and are doing our best to support smaller businesses. I'm really pleased about this and fully intend to carry on with it.
One of the other good things about this really odd year is that I've got back in more regular touch with some old friends. We may not be able to actually see each other but we've emailed back and forth and check in on each other. I have seen my brother a few times but we've been better about communicating too.
Zoom Pilates has been a godsend as it has provided both sociability and exercise so I'm really grateful to Lisa and the rest of our class.
I've read a lot too, after an initial wobble when doomscrolling seemed the only thing to do. I've discovered it's far better for my mental health to pick up a book rather than look at Twitter! Sadly, I have found no new fandom in lockdown as a fannish distraction would have been nice, but nothing grabbed me.
Those are some very scattered thoughts, which I may add to, about this last year where we seem to be experiencing a historic event mainly, and fortunately, by staying at home.
Back to the meme.
21. What parent are you more like?
People always used to say that I was like my dad and I am like him in that I can entertain myself, don't get bored easily and I'm perfectly happy with my own company. There are times though when I can hear myself sounding like my mother as I get less and less tolerant of stupidity and disorganisation. I am pretty much an amalgam of both of them in looks and also in the fact that I am fairly patient, like my father, but also like things done instantly, like my mother.
22. Do you have a preference on name brand vs store brand?
It depends what it is. There is only one Cream of Tomato Soup and that is Heinz, but for other things I'm not so bothered. If there's a big difference in price and store brand is cheaper I'll go for that but if there is little or no difference I'll pick the name brand.
23. Preferred water temperature for showering?
Warm to hot. I always have to turn it up after J has been using it.
The rest of the March questions are behind the cut.
24. What was the size of your high school?
25. What's an opinion you held for a long time that you no longer hold?
26. What is the most frivolous item you own? (No purpose or value)
27. Have you ever failed a class?
28. Do you have a certain way you have to sleep? (Covered, not covered, with or without noise etc)
29. Do you manage your time well?
30. What was the last book you read?
31. What would you do if you became immortal?
I called this post "The year of living strangely" but actually, in a way, it isn't strange at all. The way we live at the moment has definite similarities with my 1960s childhood, when foreign holidays were rare, people shopped more locally, the milk and bread were delivered, and even living where we do, going into ("up to") London was an unusual event. I wrote to a friend in the first lockdown that I felt as if I was living my grandmother's life completely centred around the house and in this third one that feels even more true. I thought a lot about my grandmother in the first lockdown because there were moments of concern about getting food and she had had to provide food for a family in the Second World War. When I say concern about getting food that's a bit dramatic as we were never going to be short but as we don't have a car and were trying to limit our trips to the shops as much as possible it was a case of having to really think about what we needed if we couldn't just pop out and get it and making sure we didn't run out of essentials. Things are much easier now with plenty of supermarket delivery slots but it was a worry to start with.
It hasn't all been bad. We've got to know Rex and our other neighbours much better, which has been nice. It has been good to feel at least a little bit useful helping Rex out, but if we hadn't done it somebody else would have done and if no-one could help there were local groups available. At one point both Rex and another neighbour were getting boxes of fruit and veg unexpectedly turning up on their doorsteps and we were the lucky beneficiaries of the things they couldn't eat, which got quite funny. We also know our local area *much* better as there has been nowhere else to go!
We've even managed to achieve a few things this year. Last summer our garden looked better than it has for years and we grew some of the most delicious tomatoes I've ever tasted. We need to get going again with all of that. We will never be natural gardeners but we did feel quite proud of ourselves, particularly as most of the good stuff was grown from seed. Our kitchen has been rationalised and we've started on the bedroom refurbishment project. I know I keep complaining about all the sorting of family stuff I haven't done but when I think back on it I have done a few things that really needed doing, particularly preserving some of the material concerning my dad's elder brother which I've digitised and sent to an archive that was interested in it.
After the initial glitch with food we've become much more creative in where we source food from and are doing our best to support smaller businesses. I'm really pleased about this and fully intend to carry on with it.
One of the other good things about this really odd year is that I've got back in more regular touch with some old friends. We may not be able to actually see each other but we've emailed back and forth and check in on each other. I have seen my brother a few times but we've been better about communicating too.
Zoom Pilates has been a godsend as it has provided both sociability and exercise so I'm really grateful to Lisa and the rest of our class.
I've read a lot too, after an initial wobble when doomscrolling seemed the only thing to do. I've discovered it's far better for my mental health to pick up a book rather than look at Twitter! Sadly, I have found no new fandom in lockdown as a fannish distraction would have been nice, but nothing grabbed me.
Those are some very scattered thoughts, which I may add to, about this last year where we seem to be experiencing a historic event mainly, and fortunately, by staying at home.
Back to the meme.
21. What parent are you more like?
People always used to say that I was like my dad and I am like him in that I can entertain myself, don't get bored easily and I'm perfectly happy with my own company. There are times though when I can hear myself sounding like my mother as I get less and less tolerant of stupidity and disorganisation. I am pretty much an amalgam of both of them in looks and also in the fact that I am fairly patient, like my father, but also like things done instantly, like my mother.
22. Do you have a preference on name brand vs store brand?
It depends what it is. There is only one Cream of Tomato Soup and that is Heinz, but for other things I'm not so bothered. If there's a big difference in price and store brand is cheaper I'll go for that but if there is little or no difference I'll pick the name brand.
23. Preferred water temperature for showering?
Warm to hot. I always have to turn it up after J has been using it.
The rest of the March questions are behind the cut.
24. What was the size of your high school?
25. What's an opinion you held for a long time that you no longer hold?
26. What is the most frivolous item you own? (No purpose or value)
27. Have you ever failed a class?
28. Do you have a certain way you have to sleep? (Covered, not covered, with or without noise etc)
29. Do you manage your time well?
30. What was the last book you read?
31. What would you do if you became immortal?