I’m at the stage of lockdown where I’ve reorganised under the kitchen sink, and my freezer. I’ve left some of the other cupboards for another day. All I want to do is go outside, go for another walk, wander randomly in Dulwich Park and perhaps run into a few people I know.
I left it a little late this morning, not leaving until 11. It’s a bright sunny day and the sun finally has some warmth. The hottest day of the year thus far. I got as far as the park and walked around side streets rather than walking through. From the gate it looked quite busy with lots of kids on bikes and skateboards, lots of adults running, walking, cycling.
Along the way I passed Brockwell Park which was empty of people. Yesterday there were too many folks sitting about, chatting, others sunbathing. Lambeth Council made the decision to close it. I suspect this is why Dulwich Park was as busy as it was.
We’ve been told by government to not sit in parks, not have picnics in them, no sunbathing in them, to not meet with friends or family outside the immediate household. If too many of us continue spending too much time in parks beyond our one trip a day for exercise, it’s likely other parks will be closed. And those of us who are out, we’re lucky. We’re not one of the million or so who have had the letter, telling them to self-isolate fully for 12 weeks.
I was out for a little over an hour. Coming inside was a struggle. I could have, and wanted to, walk for hours.
And there’s a growing divide between those with gardens and balconies, and those without. London is busy. It’s crowded. Many of us live in flats with no gardens or balconies. There is limited outside space and on warm days parks are where many of us want to be. Many of my neighbours, those with gardens, albeit tiny gardens and at least on my side of the road get very little direct sun, have stayed put.
Lockdown is tough. I’m bored. I’m lonely. It is what it is.
And sadly today, and as expected, more deaths, an additional 621 between 9am yesterday and 9am today, bringing the total up to 4,934 in the UK. The figures will rise sharply over the coming days as more are tested, as more get ill, as some sadly die; and as more deaths are registered from homes and care homes.
There’s a dissonance between it being such a lovely day, and thinking of all those grieving, the funerals they can’t attend, the hugs they can’t get and receive. As I write, I hear a dad kicking around a ball with his son and daughter on the road. There’s chatting and laughing.
I will no longer say these are interesting times. They’re not. These are strange times, times full of grief and sadness, and times of worry; times of memes and humour to lighten our days; where my moods shift from joy to sadness to anger to worry, sometimes in the space of a few moments.
So that’s it for Day 13. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!