When it became clear that most of the world would be in some sort of lockdown because of the rampant spread of the Coronavirus, Covid-19, I reached out to friends around the globe and asked them to send me a short piece on what life is like for them right now.
Fourth in this mini-series of posts is Deb from Deb’s World blog and she wrote her piece in mid-April. Deb lives in Southern England and her lighthearted piece looks at how she might have done things differently … if only she’d known …
I’m trying to imagine what would happen if the April Deb tried to give some advice to the January version of me.
You should probably go through your freezer, eat anything that’s close to its use by date and restock it, and while you’re at the supermarket, stock up on toilet rolls, pasta, tinned tomatoes and rice.
I know you have a birthday coming up, maybe ask for some jigsaws, some knitting wool or quilting fabric. You’re going to have a lot of free time on your hands.
Buy extra food for Coco and make sure you have plenty of poo bags; she’s going to be going on a lot of extra, longer walks. Brush her regularly; she won’t be going to the groomers for a while. Talking of fur/hair – Have your hair cut shorter next time and be sure to get it coloured because you never know when your next visit will be.
You know how tired you are after child minding Rosie and Leo for a day? Make the most of that exhaustion, because you aren’t going to be seeing them for a while. Yes, I know they only live round the corner, but trust me – they won’t be visiting and neither will you be looking after Max. Oh, and you won’t need to be picking Leo up from Nursery on a Wednesday either, all the schools are going to close.
Download the Zoom app. Yes, I know it’s for conference calls but trust me, Zoom will be your best friend. Guess what? You’re going to be doing a lot more Zumba classes.
You know how you enjoy going out for a meal with friends or having friends over for dinner and drinks? Make the most of the next few weeks, as all the restaurants are going to shut down. Yes, really. No, not due to food hygiene reasons. You’re worried about your social life? Oh, you’ll still have a social life, it’s just that it will consist of online quiz nights or virtual drinks parties on that Zoom app you don’t have at the moment. You know that holiday you have booked? I don’t think it’s going to happen.
But it isn’t all bad news; your garden is going to look the best it ever has. The environment and climate change is going to see some great improvements from March onwards. Pollution levels are going to plummet and the rivers are going to clear. It’s going to be pretty dramatic.
Would I have believed it? Definitely not.
Thanks so much, Deb!
This West London Life 
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