Our first day at the lower level three and, if my brief foray out of the apartment to hunt bread from the local bakers this morning is anything to go by, the next couple of weeks will be tough. There were so many people around it was almost impossible to stay two metres away from anyone. If the Covid tango was interesting at level 4 it will be a frenetic jive at level three.
The area around us is a sea of orange hi-vis, movement where there has been stillness, catching my eye and distracting me. There is more traffic, vans carrying tradies to jobs they couldn’t do yesterday. It’s also remarkably noisy after the last few weeks of calm, something I will again become used to, I’m sure – a few moments ago there was a loud clang and I actually ducked!
It’s like spring, the awakening of the earth after the slumber of winter, and the sun shining from a flawless sky belies the fact that, meteorologically, we are actually heading in the reverse direction and it will soon be winter. I think this year it will feel longer than usual, the freedoms of summer curtailed as they were. I think of the mountain where our bach is and wish we were there. I can’t wait to be able to drive to it and see something other than city buildings.
I feel restless today and don’t know why. I wonder if it’s because of the movement around me, that the world is beginning its return to normal, but I am still in the same position with little difference likely in the next few weeks? I can’t escape the feeling that something is happening and I am not part of it, that I am somehow being left behind when I should be moving along.
This isn’t helped by reading articles about holiday spots! Whilst it is quite nice to be able to think about visiting these places and seeing wonderful sights, I’m not sure it does my mental health any good. I look up from this reading to the four walls of a small apartment and the growing noises of the city and am jolted back to the reality that this will mostly be my world for some time yet and that travel is still a long way off. At least it’s something to look forward to.
Tracy Annenberg 