Unfamiliar Distance
Life in lockdown
no more than a mile from home
Goldsithney . St Hilary . Rosudgeon
Hair cutting is not something I would normally attempt, but as lockdown stretches interminably ahead I didn't want my husband resembling an ageing hippy!
He and others with dementia are finding lockdown particularly hard, with no day care to break the monotony. I fear the prolonged loss of stimulation will result in an unnecessarily rapid mental decline.
However, at least our dog is happy to have us both at home!
Jo, Don and Sophie
The timing of the lockdown has dramatically altered the course of my life. I was due to start a sabbatical from my job as a firefighter on 1st of April, to enable me to concentrate on my counseling work. I now find myself still in the Fire Service and unsure as to what the future holds. I hope my counseling/ therapy skills may be used to help others cope and recover from whatever the lockdown brings for them. At present this work is being done via phone calls – an interesting shift.
I really hope we can learn from the enforced slowing down. I don’t want to rush back ‘to normal’…there is no such thing. Why rush back to a system that was failing and disadvantaging so many lives ? While the lockdown has highlighted the scale of inequality, poverty and hidden suffering in our society, it hasn’t caused it. My wish is that this pause can be used to collectively reflect on what we want to return to and what would be better changed. After all, the one thing the lockdown has shown us is that things can change, and fast, when we decide to change them.
Adam
Here I am sitting at my piano, as I do for at least a short time, most days. My post as organist at Zennor Church is obviously on hold due to the virus, as is any other entertainment gig that may normally come my way. So I am using the lockdown time to bring some new repertoire up to scratch.
I also compose music, but when new material may come is completely unpredictable - lockdown or no lockdown - though much of it tends to come as I awake in the morning, whereupon I run it through repeatedly in my head as I "work it up" to something coherent. Then I have to rise immediately and either write it down in a manuscript book or upload it onto my computer - or both - before I forget it!
A largely completed piece which I am trying to finish is my Symphony For Zennor in four movements, but this is being delayed by work on a book I am also trying to complete, about classical music composers who were - and are - female and/or black.
My artwork is in abeyance at the moment, as I tend to work only to commission nowadays. In short, apart from the social side, coronavirus has not made a huge difference to my day-to-day routine.
Brian
Lockdown for me has been surprisingly good, personally I like the break from my usually busy schedule. Most days I do a zoom call with my friends and because of the lockdown I took up running, I used to not be able to run 100m with out getting out of breath but I’ve run two 5ks since the beginning!
Another thing that has changed is my piano lessons before I used to have them in school and now I have them over zoom.
I’ve also learnt a lot of practical skills while staying at home such as fitting a window in a shed, laying a carpet, installing lights and building boxes. One thing that I especially missed was being in a band so I organised my own band at home which was really fun. And finally I’m doing catering as a gcse and so I carried that on by cooking supper every Wednesday.
Byron
Byron
What sort of species are we
With this innate ability
To wreck our ecology
Now the tables are turned
By a virus unconcerned
With our mortality
But only its infectivity
Francis
When the corona virus lockdown started I was just about to exchange contracts on the house but the buyers decided not to until things were back to normal. So I’ve had not only the being in a state of limbo everyone has, but also having expected to move and now not going anywhere, my life is really on hold.
I have my cat Miss Tibbs, aged 10 who was born in St Hilary, and since the lockdown began my ‘gentleman friend’ Francis has been temporarily part of the household as we both decided this was the only way to deal with this situation. Well we could have been totally alone in our separate homes for an indefinite period, but this is how we chose it.
Meanwhile I am suddenly doing things in the garden; not having thought I would be here I had not planned to grow any veg instead to leave things for the new owners to decide on. And garden centres are closed, so am having to do what I can. A minimal season!
Heather
Lockdown has not affected me much regarding going out, because I don’t do much of that anyway.
Shopping for food was a problem for a short while, but now I’m able to arrange food delivery quite readily.
Psychologically, being told I should stay at home does make me feel restricted, so I do not like it.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and, in my case, it is having my wife back so that we can talk to one another. She is such an active person, spending much time at clubs and generally inter-acting with others. As our diaries are virtually empty, we have all the time in the world with no timetable to get in the way. It’s like being on honeymoon again.
But I still look forward to getting back to normal.
Derek
We are re-cladding the shed....
all corners of the house have been cleaned.....
the curtains have been washed....
many spiders have been disturbed......
the pond is full of newts and tadpoles and we now have time to watch them.....
the dogs, unlike their owners, have lost weight because their walks are much longer....
we play table games every night after dinner....
we seem to be eating a lot....
Kate, Anya & Duncan
It just so happened that we had embarked upon a major garden redesign just before lockdown started. Sharing this labour of love has kept us working together (mostly in harmony), kept us physically active and allowed us to take full advantage of the lovely weather. As it’s been difficult to get materials and plants, we’ve also had to be creative about re-purposing what we’ve got, redesigning an old shed, dividing and replanting, moving slabs and rocks and sieving soil. Jack, my partner, has always been very committed to repairing and recycling and he has been brilliant.
Jack and I both have sons and grandchildren who live quite a way away (one of mine in Switzerland). It has been hard not to see them, especially the young grandchildren who change so quickly. Ironically, because of lockdown, the distance we are apart has been irrelevant. We have used WhatsApp to keep in touch and that has worked quite well. I have also been able to keep up with my yoga via Zoom and even attended a pub sing song!
We love the quiet, appreciating the birds at their busy time. We’ve also valued conversations with people we meet on walks and at local stalls and are pleased to be living a less car dependant life.
We already knew we were very lucky to live where we do and how we do. Although this pandemic has brought some challenges (emotional rather than physical), it has underlined our immense good fortune, which in turn highlights the inequalities in our society and globally.
When we were talking about how to describe the effect of the pandemic on us so far, Jack said that it had made him feel humble and uncertain. For me that feels like it might be a good thing.
Belinda & Jack
Lockdown with 5 children has been challenging, but we are so blessed to live where we do and to have our animals to keep us sane!!!.
The world has slowed down having a positive impact on our environment and we hope this has shifted the conciousness of the people enough to make some changes for the good....imagine clear water ways, more insects coming back and less airport pollution being our new future. We live in hope!!.
We have really done well with our polytunnel and have really enjoyed the stillness of life... our hearts go out to all the people stuggling in these times.... One love
Emily, Seb, Kitty, Kaya, Seagame, Amana, Zion, Paddy & Pirate
I like the lockdown because I don’t have to go to school and I get to spend a bit more time with my family but I do miss my friends, wider family and sport.
Harry & Jo
