I restlessly dream and awake to check the news. France's confirmed cases have gone done a bit. I check with the girls that they understand the longer we leave it, the less chance we have of making it home. I'm still worried about going home on crowded flights. I'm nearly sixty, I don't want to risk it, I've had issues with breathing difficulties over the years and I'm slightly paranoid. France seems to have it under control very quickly. We have to fill out a document that we download saying where we live and where we're going. Police with pink armbands check you to see that you're not going out without a reason. Instead of feeling my freedom is being threatened I feel strangely safe.
I venture out to the supermarket. I find myself holding my breath when I pass people but mostly we just choose another aisle when we see someone coming. I am on a mission. I look for the ingredients for Negroni but all I can find is a Martini mix and a bottle of gin. I find pencils and paper! Who'd have thought such a simple pleasure would create such joy (the only shops open are the supermarket, chemist and the odd Tobacco shop, of course). And there is plenty of toilet paper and no empty shelves! The daughter meets me in the supermarket to get something and we're told to separate. They're on it here!
I return home with my purchases in a strange state of happiness. I begin to draw, something I haven't done in such a long time. I stand on my little balcony and look out at the world, seeing a backyard full of tiny white daisies, I breathe in the sun that is out today.
We have the Lockdown Negroni and it goes down well, then dine watching
Kath and Kim to remind us of home and then at eight, people on their balconies begin to clap. We follow suit without knowing why. The next day we find out it's for the healthcare sector. After that the daughter decides we should learn to twerk. I feel I achieve high quality twerking almost immediately - the daughter begs to differ. It does help I feel if you have a nicely shaped arse, mine is slightly flat.
Opmerkingen