I’ve been drifting a bit this year. I used to make a concerted effort to write a blog every week but covid put an end to that! News dried up, no holidays or outings allowed and the only face to face conversation I had for months was with my husband. I’ve now got into a rut and need to claw myself out of it! Bad habits die hard!
As all restrictions have now been lifted and virtually no one wears a mask in shops and restaurants anymore, I’m feeling a bit vulnerable. There is no reason other than the fear of catching covid. I’m not immuno-compromised and have had a booster vaccine so have done everything possible to protect myself. It’s now become a habit to wear a mask, keep my distance and sanitise my hands!
It is still recommended that we wear masks in crowded places but few take any notice. It has been decided by the ‘great and the good’ that covid has morphed into a slight cold at best and influenza at worst. The fact that hospitals are filling up again and there are still people dying doesn’t seem to bother anyone. The government have probably stopped ‘following the science’ and want to tackle the economy. It has taken a real battering over the last couple of years!
I do need to get out again so spent a few hours at the Outlet Village closest to us. Looking around it felt as if the clocks had gone back two years! Certain shops were very busy with no social distancing and hardly a mask in sight! I’m going on a Norwegian cruise at the end of this month and needed a few items of clothing. The choice was mine! I could either turn tail and run back to the car or bite the bullet and start shopping. I bit the bullet!
A few hours later I trundled back to the car, my hands full and feeling exhausted! I had used fitting rooms, gone into busy shops and enjoyed a delicious lemon and blueberry muffin with a cup of tea! That was until three people came in and started coughing! My meal was luckily coming to an end so I made a quick exit to breathe in some fresh air before I mingled once more!
I need to draw a line under the last couple of debilitating, unpleasant years. With spring very much in the air, beautiful blossoms on trees and shrubs, gardens filled with tulips, forget me nots, primroses and bluebells, the time has come to embrace life again!
A lot of people feel that we have wasted two years! It’s happened and we can’t turn back the clocks but we can make plans for the future and hope for the best. The war in Ukraine remains a huge concern. But I cannot sit at home and wait for others to decide my fate! Life really is too short! 👠
Jenny Burrell 