London – Day 40 of lockdown

It’s been a reasonable day today.

For a change of scenery I decided to head up to the gardens at the Horniman Museum. I mapped the route in my head before setting off – thinking about quiet roads, wider footpaths. Some hills on the way there. There were lots of parents with young kids, but not too many. And it was a big sky. It was the sort of sky I got used to in Australia. But in London, it’s rare, a real treat.

In these strange times there are more and more big sky moments. The sky is not marred by plane vapour trails. There’s less pollution. Though today there were more planes interrupting the general silence.

I headed to Dulwich Park and cut through. There were too many people. I could feel that familiar flutter of anxiety when there are too many people about, too many kids on bikes flying around the place, too many adult runners and cyclists. I headed down to Lordship Lane where I ran into a family I know from running club. It feels good to chat.

And I’ve had a bit of an epiphany. Lockdown I can handle. I can handle it if I think just a few days ahead. Or I look at the news. Either of these is some sort of sweet spot. Where I go into meltdown, get irritated and agitated, is when I think of the weeks and months ahead. What it means being self-employed, trying to secure contracts. What it means for when I’ll be able to see family and friends again in Australia. For now, these are things I need to put to one side.

And in the bigger world, it seems like we’re beginning to follow the protests in the US about lockdown, though on a much smaller scale. There’s a different relationship to the state, and very few of us are what you might call libertarians.

OK, so it was very much British style. There was a group of about 20 people having a hug-in to demonstrate lockdown restrictions. They were outside the Met Police headquarters. Placards read ‘My body. My choice. We do not consent’; ‘Say no to: poisonous vaccines; pandemic scamdemic; lies and tyranny; no 5G radiation.’ I wonder if they or their friends and family get sick, they’ll refuse care? I very much doubt it.

I’m one of those people who gets a flu shot every year. I’m not in a high risk group but I’ve had the flu once in my life and never want to feel that awful again. £12 or £15 is a small price to pay to avoid it, or at least the worst of it. Once a vaccine is developed for this bloody virus, I’ll definitely be getting it. And on the 5G virus link? The best tweet I’ve seen, which I can’t find now, was a tweet from I think an epidemiologist. His view ‘the only way you could get the virus from a 5G tower is if someone sneezed on it, and you then licked where they sneezed.’ The wording isn’t quite right but you get the drift.

But signs of hope are emerging more widely. Spain has started easing lockdown as are some others.

There’s not a clear timeframe here or clarity on what easing of restrictions might mean. And on the numbers, in the UK, 182,260 have now tested positive. As of 5pm yesterday, another 621 deaths bringing the total to 28,131. The figures now include all settings though there will continue to be timelags. I suspect there’s still some time to go. On that note…

So that’s it for Day 40. Stay safe, stay well, and stay home!