Life in a time of plague

Drifting down the Danube… ah well – in an Alternative Universe

If life had continued as it used to, right now I would have been on the Danube in a riverboat, watching the scenery slip past as I sipped my champagne. But we’ve been handed devastating fires, massive floods, and now a plague. It’s almost like the story of Moses and the flight from Egypt. And as it happens, Passover is a few short weeks away.

Like most of you, Pete and I are staying home. It’s not difficult, especially for me. We have adjoining offices and we can talk via email if we get sick of shouting through the wall. Unlike the poor souls confined to a one or two-bedroom apartment, we’ve got plenty of room inside and outside. Since we can’t go travelling, now that the weather is cooler and less humid, we’re tackling some garden maintenance tasks we’ve put off for too long, like removal of bushes we should never have planted, and replenishment of mulch. Who needs a gym?

Unlike the selfish idiots who crowded Bondi Beach in Sydney last week, our little beach is crowded if fifty people turn up. And that only happens at times like the Easter holidays. This is a tourist town and I feel for all the cafes and restaurants that have had to shut down while this virus runs its course. But as somebody said in a Facebook meme, the virus doesn’t move. People move. Stop people moving and the virus dies.

Let’s hope so.

I look at the death toll from Spain and Italy and cringe. I guess I was one of those people who initially thought it was just another flu, but all those deaths tell another story. Sure, flu kills thousands every year- but compare the death toll now with the death toll a year ago and clearly it is not a ‘situation normal’. Something else is killing people and its name is covid-19. We’re both in the ‘at risk’ club because of our age but apart from being (ahem) elderly, we’re in pretty good shape. I can’t say the same for some of my family and friends and I worry for them even though I know there’s nothing I can do.

Meanwhile, Pete keeps busy with politics and I play around with photographs in between bouts of trying to write the current book. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate on writing. Procrastinating is far too easy. For instance, I’ve recently been introduced to a Photoshop technique labelled ‘out of bounds’ and it’s such fun. See below.