Coronavirus diaries: day 294 - life in lockdown

 

Snow and cold

I was thinking about when I post to this blog, and why I'd left such a gap.  One reason is that the days blend into one another.  There's a lot of news when the lockdown starts, but then as it drags on, not much happens - at least at an individual level.

The U.K.'s Covid-19 numbers have been horrible.  Last week, we breached the 60,000 level for one day.  This would be equivalent to ~ 300,000 cases per day in the U.S.  According to government health experts, we are now in the teeth of the epidemic, and the next few weeks will be the worst.  My personal view is that when the 'UK variant' hits the U.S., cases there will skyrocket.

Our family remains healthy.  Individually, I do not have a lot of outside contact.  I work from home, I go running, and I go to the grocery store.

I guess the last activity poses some risk, but I've been doing this since the start (masked, of course), and so it feels normal.

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Running has been good.  We've had two weeks with snow on the ground and subfreezing temperatures most days.  So, it's proper winter.  I've been getting out in the morning often before sitting in my office for most of the day, as sitting after having exercised feels much better than waiting all day to get out.

At this time of year I'd usually be planning races or backpacking trips for the next 12 months.  But it doesn't seem useful to do so, and indeed when the thought crosses my mind 'We should travel to x this summer' it seems strange.  Imperceptively, my horizon has shrunk.

Coronavirus diaries: day 287

                   Line of cars waiting to enter McDonald's drive-thru 

It's the 287th day since our initial lockdown last March.  What, you may ask, happened in the last 277 days since my last post?  In Scotland, the initial lockdown lasted in various forms until late June and early July.  Summer was not fully normal, but we made the best of it with backpacking trips to the Highlands, and a family week away at St. Andrews.  At one point, there was optimism that Scotland might be Covid-free, as the case numbers had dropped so dramatically.  Our teens returned to school in August, and a second wave of Covid-19 (+ new restrictions) returned in the Autumn.  We've just entered a new lockdown, with the Prime Minister again making an announcement on TV of restrictions. Similar rules were also announced earlier in the day for Scotland by the First Minster here. 

But as we start 2021, our family remains in good health.  The schools are off and will continue to be so now until February.  The challenge now, as before, is to maintain structure (and spirits) as we work and school from home.

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Prior to the announcements today, we went to McDonalds for lunch in what is likely to be our last visit for a while. There's no dining inside, but you can get take away (which is what we did). They also restricted the number of people in the restaurant ordering food.  We don't go to McDonalds often but, as with many things, the prospect of not being able to do so made it much more appreciated.