Thoughts on Thursday

I didn’t get my usual Wednesday post done yesterday. I was tired and not in a particularly good temper so just not in the mood for writing. I had two posts half written, neither of which were coming together, so I just picked up my new knitting project instead. All of which bring me to my thoughts on this cold but sunny, autumn Thursday at the end of May.

No doubt, like me, you have seen people imagining how a ‘post Covid world’ will look at. There is talk of the world being a kinder place, a slower place with less travel, where people will shop local. But this is likely only to be for a few. Everyone’s circumstances are different: some of us still have our jobs, others have lost theirs, some of us enjoyed the quiet, the working at home (see here for a good piece), others have been frustrated by the solitude of daily walks. Here we had no problems with grocery shopping, but now are facing things missing from shelves as lots of imported goods are taking longer to get to New Zealand since there is hardly any air freight. What ‘after the virus’ will mean is different things to different people.

For me personally, I have realised I can do with a lot less of some things (clothes), but also what I want more of (time for walks and looking at the changing seasons). I have enjoyed working at home, of not being stuck in a stuffy, poorly ventilated open plan office. But I missed food shopping, going to the cinema and theatre, eating out and seeing friends. I found Zoom Pilates a little oasis of joy, but am very happy to be back in the studio. You will all have similar stories to tell.

I re-tried knitting, for the umpteenth time, and I just bought some more wool to practice different stitches and things like joining wool to make stripes. I am not bothered about being perfect, just having a bit of fun.

For so many of us food became an even more central part of our lives, either for comfort or to try out new things or to make do with what we had. It has also been nice to make lunch each day and not wolf down leftovers at my work desk. My current obsession is mushrooms on toast in different guises.

While things begin to get back to ‘normal’, a lot of things are different. Travel agents are all shut. Flight timetables are not as they were. I am still working at home and considering a four day week, having been encouraged to do so by our Prime Minister. Buses are operating to half capacity to allow a degree of social distancing. I’ve been eating granola. But at least I still hate ironing.

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