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Doom and gloom with nice garden pictures....

Its a rum do this CORVID 19 - scary stuff and scarier still is the mob mentality that it has brought out across much of the population(post script...but the clapping was good).  I'd like to think that with the press coverage and films of nurses weeping people will start to act responsibly and stop raiding the shops like the Apocalypse is about to happen but I fear this wont make the slightest difference - for too many years now we have been conditioned to look after number one and its all about survival of the fittest!!!  I'm holding off supermarkets hoping that by the time we get desperate for loo paper and have emptied the cupboards life will have calmed down and everyone will have spent up and there may be stuff on some of the shelves!!!  Watching the television coverage it reminded me a bit of Cuba where there were small shops with long empty shelves and a couple of tins on each -  a country used to rationing!!!

Yes it sounds very cynical and social media does seem to be countering some of this with stories of companies treating their staff well and individuals offering to help others less fortunate but wouldn't it be nice if these actions were expected and normal, given and not something to be boasted about - or used for brownie points.

I'm really hoping that this enforced down time, this social dislocation/isolation will slow everyone down, make people aware and possibly reflect more about what living on this planet means and how nature can bite back when you least expect it!!

Perhaps its a chance to do all those little jobs you always meant to do - personally Dr Fred and I have quite a lot of big jobs we always mean to do so we will keep busy and hopefully this will distract us from the outside scariness which it is hard not to get caught up in.

Taking into account the recommendations about staying safe, keeping others safe and social distancing we did venture out for a local walk at the weekend.  We had originally planned to go further afield and meet up with some friends for a Sunday afternoon stroll but obviously this didn't seem such a good idea given the current circumstances so we agreed the walk would still be there in a few months time.  We did feel the need for some exercise so we donned our wellies and headed into the wilds of the surrounding countryside expecting it to fairly deserted - I guess everyone else was feeling that way too as suddenly we found ourselves part of quite a large crowd on the path and it was quite alarming to realise mob mentality had reached us all.

We got off the beaten track as quickly as we could and headed off towards home up the hill via Westerton. We checked out the Thomas Wright Observatory / folly before wandering back down home for some isolated sun in the garden and a welcome cup of tea.  I'm glad we did go for a little walk because I think that was the last one we will do for a while!  I cant believe how people aren't taking this lock down seriously...

I hope these measure work - I hope we can contain the virus and learn lessons because this may not be an isolated 'unprecedented' instance.  scarily this could happen again the world is a big place and we have been globally floored - brought health wise, economically and politically to a stand still by a tiny invisible virus!!! I am happy to stay at home - only venture out for necessary items if it will make a difference.  I'm disappointed that I wont finish uni in the way I had hoped to but in the scheme of things its a minor concern - people are dealing with bigger sacrifices and daily anxieties.  I have friends and family who are working front line health services and I can only hope they stay well.  For the rest of us its important that we waive our political views, think community and act responsibly - and yes I am very cynical about it all, I can almost buy into conspiracy theories and wonder what the powers that be are getting away with under cover of CORVID 19 but that doesn't make the virus less real or less of a threat...It is here and we have to do what ever it takes to contain it... and keep doing it as I don't think it will be immediately obvious how contained it is and it will be tempting to break curfews and think we are over the worst...

My motivation to finish uni work is low at the moment - I'm so nearly there but we have been granted an extension and I am taking a few days to relax - get used to living with only Dr Fred for entertainment and have spent the last couple of days in the garden which has been lovely... I'll pick up and finish the college stuff soon enough... stay safe everyone.


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