It’s the quiet and emptiness I can’t get used to. On weekends, my area is under a flight path. I’d be woken up by those planes overhead, annoyed. On my street there’d be traffic. If I was heading off to Dulwich Park to say hello to runners I know, there would be kids lining up outside the library soon to open – somewhere quiet to study. The park on a morning like today’s would have had kids playing football, hundreds of runners doing Parkrun, British Military Fitness teams being shouted at, kids learning to ride bikes and scooters, the café would have been heaving. This was two weeks ago.
One week ago there was no Parkrun. My local gym, all gyms, had closed. The café was still open, quieter than usual but still popular. Today it sits there closed.
Time is moving in unfamiliar ways, bending and stretching, the bad news coming fast and the numbers of positives and deaths jumping day by day. Over 1,000 deaths now in the UK.
That last Parkrun feels like it was months ago. Not two weeks ago. The days are both short and long at the same time.
Another walk in my local park. It was sunny when I entered. The sun was warm on my skin. A hundred metres in I saw a familiar couple with their dog. I’ve first started chatting to him maybe 8 days ago when his dog ran up to me, eager for a pat. I heard a familiar twang so as I do, I asked him where his accent was from. Another Australian. I’m pretty good at finding them these days. He’s originally from Cairns though spent a number of years in Brisbane which is where his wife is from. I’m from Brisbane. I ran into him and his wife a few days after this. She grew up and lived in a Brisbane suburb close to mine. They’ve been in London for almost as long as me. Today we chatted, about family back in Australia, about work. This afternoon they were planning to have a BBQ in their back garden.
I continued walking around the park. The kids play area closed as it has been since Tuesday I think.
I headed out of the park, deciding to take a different route to mix it up a little. And who should I run into? The woman who I’d run into yesterday. And I had to check it was only yesterday. We of course chatted again. I headed home. A sudden drop in temperature, strong wind, and clouds meant it was time to head indoors.
Today I’ve been tired. Certainly not a bone weary ‘I’ve just run 15 miles’ kind of tired. It’s more of a headspace tired where I have a lingering mood I can’t quite put into words. It’s ennui but not quite. It’s anxiety but not quite. It’s feeling out of sorts because my world in London is now quiet.
So that’s it for Day 5. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!