Slow Down You Move Too Fast

.. if you’re in your middle years you will now be humming the rest of this ditty – I say humming as no one really knows the other words apart “feeling groovy”. Back in the day, in music lessons, we were forced to sing a whole variety of folk songs, which as a teeneager, no matter the vintage, is kill-me-now territory.

I digress.

Unbelievably, lockdown has only been in place for 68 days (if you’re familiar with my scribing… yes, I have checked actually). Bizarrely it has felt like forever but every morning I wake and, instinctively, in my half conscious state, my brain, quickly assimilates life’s puzzle pieces: what’s happened? what’s to come? This is, as it has always been, the first signs of my grey cells flickering to life.

Then I have to pause, as all of our lives have done, to remember the current status quo of our little planet.

Research shows that it takes somewhere between 66-254 days to learn a new thought process or habit* which is a significant differential but, whichever it is, I’m now waiting for my brain to catch up and remember, on waking, rather than having to remind myself everyday that it wasn’t some mercurial dream. *Having said that I’ve been pulling my stomach in for years and it still hasn’t got the message.

Some say that life has changed forever but, it transpires, habits are hard to break.

With restrictions of lockdown being eased a little, people are now allowed to see 1 whole person from another household - am not totally sure but I think I can get away with inviting 2 small people or perhaps a whole herd of toddlers to the park but I need to check the official government guidance.

Obviously many, if not most, are sticking to this by the letter, some are adhering to it with exception of the word “one”(tis, after all, just a number).

Whilst out yesterday with Rock and Youngling (our first family bike ride … well ... ever!) it was clear that our local park was bustling but not just with the avid runners, the reluctant plodders and the dog walkers but teenagers having picnics, families playing games together, couples strolling hand in hand. People just enjoying each others company.

With the shops still closed and the sun still shining people are heading for the great outdoors. Have we actually learnt anything through all this or will people just return to type when the doors of the towns are thrown open? Manchild, for example, is currently notching up 4 online quizzes a week with his friends – will these simple interactions still remain in some form or will it be straight to Weatherspoons as soon as they open the door?

Home School has been emotional. On the one hand it’s resulted in a fair few sanctions being handed out but it’s also taught my youngling to appreciate her schooling, her friends and teachers, just for being there, warts and all. Absence really does, in this case, make the heart grow fonder.

Something I hope that won’t change is our gratitude to our health workers. The Thursday "Clap for Carers" is being silenced this week but the memory of this lives on. Standing, socially distanced of course, with our neighbours, applauding those who have sacraficed their time, liberty and even their lives to help others. Roles such as nurses, hospital porters and cleaners that were once overlooked and underpaid are now just underpaid. Hopefully with the gratitude of the world buoying them, the next time a pay increase is demanded it will be met with the gusto it deserves.

Walking in the park early this morning I was aware of the silence. Not the obvious one but there is another one. I’ve never been aware of the white noise of our world but I must have been listening, sub consciously. Unaware of my awareness to the rumbling of the wheels of industry constantly turning. Our wildlife, they have noticed, the timid ones in particular. Animals have been spotted much more frequently: badgers, hedgehogs and deer; usually incredibly sensitive creatures have been seen out frolicking in the day time. Pollution levels have plummeted and thus insect populations have exploded and, as the great circle of life decrees, the birds with so much more to eat, have taken over the now unbelievably brightly coloured, smogless skies.

Somewhere in the downright weirdness, the tragic loss of lives, the confusion and the worry it’s more important than ever to look to the light and it’s always there if you choose to find it.