Covid-19 | Life in Lockdown – Southern England A Year On

Back in April 2020 I reached out to friends around the world for their thoughts on lockdown. Deb wrote about lockdown life in Southern England here. Six months later, she wrote another piece.

Now, a year later, Deb’s kindly written an update, and has a lot to say … so maybe grab a cuppa. 🙂

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According to Duolingo I have been learning Spanish for almost 365 days now so I have stuck to my intention to learn a new language in lockdown! Obviously I’m not quite fluent yet, and I would much prefer to continue a week of my studies whilst eating tapas and drinking sangria in Seville, but that’s not to be.  Why’s that?  Because we are STILL in lockdown!  3^rd time around. The novelty wore off a long time ago.  Yes I’ve learned a bit of conversational Spanish, I’ve even taught myself to crochet (three hats and one blanket completed at the time of typing), I put on some lbs, lost them and seem to be starting to find them again.

I’ve baked, done shopping online to avoid going out to the supermarkets, made meal plans for two weeks at a time, and walked the dog until my feet and her paws ache.  We’ve braved the snow, the ice, the rain, hot days, cloudy days and foggy days. 

We have redesigned our garden, redecorated a couple of rooms, had new carpets fitted and bought new patio furniture. 

What we haven’t done is seen any friends or relatives inside our home since before Christmas, and we have just started to have our grandchildren a couple of hours a week.  We’ve watched everything on Netflix that looks interesting, caught up on everything we recorded from the TV and I’ve seen the whole box set of season sixteen of Greys Anatomy.  I’ve met a friend for walks and whilst it’s good to catch up neither of us have much news, because we can’t do anything or go anywhere.  How I’d prefer to be sitting in her house, drinking wine and comparing notes on holidays.  Well, we aren’t allowed inside anyone’s homes and we can’t go on holiday just yet so we’ll continue communicating via Zoom or countryside walks, seeing our hair grow longer (and greyer!)

But … what’s that I see?  Light at the end of the tunnel?  We’ve had our first vaccination, been given a date for the second, schools have reopened and it’s not long until we can meet up outside in groups of up to six!  It’s now second nature to make sure we have a mask in our handbag when we go out, and I have to say my mask collection has grown and become more stylish as I accumulate new ones that coordinate more with my clothes.  This lockdown has been hard.  Harder than the others and I can only hope that as everyone gets their vaccinations we can emerge still continuing to adhere to the rules and not ruining all the good work that has been done in reducing numbers. 

Above all though, I will leave this lockdown with an overwhelming feeling of thanks that my family and friends have, so far, remained safe.   There are no words to describe my admiration and gratitude to our amazing health service staff and volunteers who have help us weather this storm.  The organisation and professionalism of those involved in the vaccination process is exemplary and we owe so much to their dedication and expertise.   Let’s keep doing what we are supposed to be doing so that I am not here, in 12 month’s time discussing lockdown four!

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Thanks so much, Deb, for articulating your thoughts so brilliantly. 🙂