The lock down has left me feeling rather institutionalised. For nearly 3 months I have only left the house to walk around the village or cycle my usual 3 miles . Today I decided it was time to take some rubbish and garden waste to the newly-opened recycling centre and visit the supermarket before I started to lose confidence to get in the car and venture out.
It’s a whole new world out there. The main road to the recycling centre was closed to all traffic except those of us going to the centre. A ‘guard’ was on duty outside making sure we had an appointment to get in (I did). Alternate parking bays were roped off so that cars couldn’t park next to each other, and every 2 metres along the walkway was marked with bright blue tape. We could only visit the bins singly, and each appointment was only for 15 minutes.
Rubbish dumped, it was time to visit Tesco’s in Bury St. Edmunds. The previous day’s online delivery service had missed off various items, and so for the first time in 3 months I drove into Tesco’s. Loud rock music pulsated through the car park, which was fine for me and gave me a little boost. There was hand sanitiser by the main door, and a cloth and detergent for wiping down the trolleys. A ‘guard’ stood by and made sure we cleaned our hands.
Arrows had appeared on the floor of the supermarket that had not been there in March. Whilst looking around on the shelves for things it was easy to forget to walk only in the direction of the arrows as well. One aisle was jam packed with toilet paper! Plastic screens had been erected at the tills to protect the staff. All in all it wasn’t too bad; I didn’t have to queue for ages outside, and in the shop it didn’t seem too crowded even though it was Saturday afternoon. Nobody wore face masks.
Another little boost when I got home; Leon, also desperate to get out, had turned up on his bike and was chatting to Sam in the garden. Sam has been scraping moss from the roof for the past 4 weekends and had come to end of his labours. With Leon’s encouragement I climbed up the ladder to the top platform, mindful of the fact that Sam had previously told me it would be better if I only climbed up the lower one! I had a good old socially distant chat with my son on the roof and enjoyed the view. All in all Saturday has been rather a ‘gas’, as my US buddies would say.
justmuddlingthroughlife said:
We stayed at home from March to August as shielding. its a different world out there. Last Tuesday I was told of in the post office as only two people were allowed in at a time, it didn’t occur to me that there would be a restriction. Its a scary world out there right now.
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Stevie Turner said:
It is for sure.
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dgkaye said:
I think our rules here in Canada are parallel with UK. And once a week for grocery runs is enough for me too. I don’t enjoy the taped marks and lineups to get in grocery stories now or the same line to check out in single file. Oye! If we’d all social distance and wear a mask maybe we could get used to life that way and move on like that until there’s a vaccine. x
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Stevie Turner said:
If there ever is a vaccine?
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dgkaye said:
So true! 😦
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Terri Webster Schrandt said:
I’m glad to read you got out, Stevie! I’m sure this was the boost you needed! Do you know how much longer your stay-at-home orders will last?
Our shut down is nearly over here in California. We traveled across 2 state lines to Washington state to visit our property and meet with the home builder while staying with family. We all feel safe and can stay a reasonable distance away in their large home. Ill share more about that in a post. I hope you can get out again soon. Sounds like life is getting back to a sense of normal.
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Stevie Turner said:
Hi Terri. ‘Normal’ arrives on 4th July. Until then we’re still partially locked down. We’re looking forward to getting over to our caravan on 10th July.
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Terri Webster Schrandt said:
Oh my, July 4th? Sounds like a long time from now!
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Stevie Turner said:
It is unfortunately.
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Darlene said:
I know what you mean. Although I have ventured in the car for groceries once a week, it isn’t very far to the nearest supermarket, we went for a coffee at an outdoor patio last week and it felt strange sitting with friends. I was actually uncomfortable. It will take a while to get back into socializing, I think. Sigh.
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Stevie Turner said:
I know what you mean – it certainly felt strange to have another person in our garden! It’s been just us two since mid-March.
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Stevie Turner said:
I just had to get out today before I lost the confidence to. I’m glad I did, and it gave the car a much needed run. It’s very easy to become ‘institutionalised’ I think.
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jwebster2 said:
Glad you had a good day 🙂
Actually my lady wife hasn’t been out since it started, I’ve been doing the shopping at the local tesco
I don’t think she realises how different things are! 🙂
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