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Short days of rain


swilkinson

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It had to come, short rainy days, dark nights and I have to go out tonight! But apart from that life is back to being routine, I am going to meetings, out to lunch about once a week, keeping up with friends again. There are still people who go out very rarely but that is really motivated by their own fears. There is very little chance of Covid infection. I feel sorry for those who listen to the many rumours floating around about the vaccinations and are afraid to have one but I have had my first and my flu shot so feel more protected.

 

But this weekend it is Mother's Day on Sunday and we have a temporary 3 day restriction and are back to wearing masks in public again, no singing in church etc so I have told my daughter not to come down to me on Sunday as we can celebrate some other time. No need to have her travel to our hot spot if she doesn't have to. In Newcastle she is out of the Greater Sydney bubble and working in the nursing home she has to declare if she has visited me. Life gets complicated by these sudden shutdowns but I think we are getting used to it. Becoming cynical in fact.

 

Apart from these short breaks with reality I am okay. I can get around, enjoy the short bursts of sunshine that winter features, going out in the garden and doing the repotting that needs to be done. I have unpacked a box of old books Mum had, they have been in storage from 2001 when she came to "visit" me and then went into the nursing home. I have read most of them before but they will be okay for winter reading. The cat mats are still needed and I am slowly, s.l.o.w.l.y, getting into the decluttering. I do welcome any interruption to that unsavoury task, but it is necessary.

 

The aim of the decluttering is more cupboard space and hopefully easier packing up  if anything happens to me and I need to go into residential care. At 73 that is a possibility if I get seriously ill in the future. And my daughter would have to do it. Having packed up for my parents and knowing how emotional it was for me I will try not to impose that on my Shirley. I know that is a dark thought but I guess the shut in feeling from the rainy days bring those thoughts to mind. But I am strong enough now to face that. A year or two ago that was not so.

 

I still talk to Peter on Messenger, as contemporaries we have the same concerns and as old friends we have a lot of joint memories to talk about. He has finally got his Master of History paperwork and with no official graduation days this year is having a church blessing instead. I have also caught up with a couple of old friends from my working days and hope to meet up with those two former colleagues this month. Life changes and hopefully meeting up with friends and family makes those changes easier. Like everyone else I have my hopes and fears particularly bring on my own and cope as best I can with the life I have.

 

So how do we go forward from here is a question asked here at all levels of our society. You can tell I have too much time on my hands when I ask questions like that. So I better stop typing, go and get some breakfast and go on with the day. Keep safe, keep well and we'll all come through this troubled time.

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Sue :

nothing is guaranteed in life just have to take one day at a time or one moment at a time & make a good decision so that we will have better results for tomorrow. you are so thoughtful about tieing up things so that your daughter does not have to go through same hardship you went through with your parents. quite practical but hard way to look at the life. say hello to peter from us.

 

 

Asha

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Just spent three days at my daughter's place. Nice to just sit and enjoy catching up with family. The weather was cold so inside was warm and cosy. I spent a lot of time with the cat on my lap. Home today to my usual routine. 

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This may sound not humerous but it reminds me of a conversation my daughter and I had today. You know this (this covid thing) is going to be in our history books. Students are going to read "In the 20's (being 2000's...2020...2021...etc) people wore masks and stayed 6 feet apart, they enclosed their cashiers in plexiglass, everyone ordered their groceries and had them delivered to their porch, there were direction stickers on the floor of the isles to remind everyone which way to move in order to maintain social distancing, Seattle was otherworldly and seemed armageddon was certain, chaos was abound, there was maniacal rioting, there were many peace movements that were happening...Black Lives Matter (yes they do!)... Mask protests... Angry temporary insanity among those that wore a mask and those that felt wearing them was oppressing, the Me Too Movement was booming (I agree), there was political unrest (one candidate was ostrisized for being over the top and considered a know it all) and the other was ostrisized for being too little of a strong force (weak), asleep (possibly dementia), possibly stricken with a form of aphasia at moments. All the news channels picked a side and reported how the candidate or President (then and now) is destroying the future. There were many conspiracy theories about nanobots in vaccines, conspiracies about how the world was becoming brainwashed or that everyone was being implanted with spyware or tracking devices. In the 20's it was illegal to breathe on our neighbor so we stayed inside for a year. We went on and on...we got a good giggle out of that. Mom always said find the good in everything and humor is one of the best. Now I'm thinking how did this post remind me of that skit my daughter and I did together. Well, I hope someone else finds the humor in my post amongst all the seriousness of reality. We are all in this together and I am glad to be in this with all of you!

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Life in the last 18 - 24 months has been full of extremes hasn't it, and it's not over yet. So many opportunities for things to be better seem to have been lost. But yes Tracy you have to laugh or you'll end up in the loony house, Enjoy the little bits of peace you can find, the crazy is right up close at the moment.  I was supposed to be working in the office yesterday, but had to stay home because I have a sneeze/cough/sore throat. I know I haven't got "it", and I should probably go get a test done, but I just don't want to.  Right now I'm focusing on getting this cold out of my system so I can get my vaccination next week.

 

The medical people/media are moaning here about the low fluvacs rate this year, but I think it's because those of us who usually gets flu vacs in March/April are waiting to do our covid vacs first, you have to wait 14 days between them, and the stuff ups with the covid vacs roll out has meant we haven't done our fluvacs as normal.

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So true Heather. I am happy that my daughter and I can come with a comical little skit just for our enjoyment (never want to take away the seriousness but you are right we have to laugh at times it is great medicine). I understand about the vaccine stuff. I think it is a little less of an issue here since we above the equater will get flu vacs usually Sept and Oct so still some time for more covid vacs. There is still the issue of some that just refuse to get it (I think they probably stear clear of the flu one too). I'm just going to do my part and hope my little bit helps the world to reach the needed % for greatest effect... I dont even try to think I can control anyone else's decision (one less crumb for me to clean up). I am happy you found the much needed humor from my post and I hope you feel better soon! Take care of yourself...do all the things:  drink plenty of fluids, get rest, chicken noodle soup and a good book or movie! 🙂

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Tracy if you can keep your sense of humour life is sweeter. Finding something to smile about,  laugh about or store away in your mind for future reference is priceless. I think we survive and thrive if we can  laugh at ourselves too.

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