Voices from the void

Voices from the void

Stealthily, steadily, a new normal is forming , time forced to fit within the confines of my home. My empty calendar stares blankly, bleakly,  down from my kitchen wall. I cannot make plans. No one can.  Each day is bearable thanks to my glorious surroundings allowing me a blissful hour of exercise in solitude. Never have I been more grateful to live in such a beautiful national park. 

Boris Johnson is now out of hospital and convalescing in Chequers. Parliament is absent . on Easter recess. Our foreign secretary Dominic Raab is nominally in charge but continuously, monotonously,  tells us the Cabinet is working together as one united team. Working on what, I wonder? 

Daily press briefings no longer command high viewing figures.  The immediate urgency of this crisis has been replaced by repetitive bad news. Our economy is in nose dive, the death toll is rising , medicine and equipment shortages are rife. With no end in sight and nothing to look forward too even I ,who have always consumed news with an avid passion, find it hard to engage with this daily depressing litany of woes. 

Everyone is experiencing this new normal differently so it is fascinating to 'hear' words from outside my/our own isolation. Thank you to those featured below who sent me their individual stories. More to come in future posts. The more the merrier please, nothing is too small, too insignificant, voices from out there in the void beyond my garden brings comfort and company in these strange times. 

Reflections:

Caroline: an NHS key worker

Thinking about this blog made me realise the change in my role over the last few weeks.

35 years ago I started as a medical secretary at Barts Hospital in London. They wanted to know my qualifications-Diploma in Practise Management and availability.

Over the next three decades I' ve held various roles in the NHS where each time I was asked about my expertise, experience and knowledge. Last week I was asked if I could 'step up' to support a Covid 19 facility locally. On this occasion the only questions they asked were regarding my health -any underlying health problems, the health of any family members living with me and if I had any dependants.

I am proud to work for the NHS but it is a very different world we are now living in. Stay safe, stay home , safe lives. 

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Karen and Ken:

We do hope you and your families are all keeping safe and are well. We are fine, a bit stiff with all the sitting down, although we are endeavouring to walk  once a day on the Downs behind our house. One 'bonus' of all of this is that we are spending time to really appreciate what nature has to offer on our doorstep and to watch it develop and flourish, coming into spring. It really has been a joy to behold, especially with the very good weather. Our children are all OK and generally doing very well keeping the little ones amused. Our Son and his girlfriend of 18 months, moved in together at his house, after the  announcement from the Government, that couples living apart, either move in together or do not see each other for the foreseeable future. They had been talking about it for a while, so it was no great surprise. We are just so pleased that they are not by themselves through this.

Our youngest daughter  has had to completely stop all her hairdressing work, although at the moment she is really enjoying the children and not having to organise work. No doubt she will be really busy when it all returns to some normality. She will have lots of stories about the state of peoples hair.  Her partner, is a postman and is working as a key worker, there have been issues over social distancing at the sorting office, but other than that he is working normally.

Our eldest daughter  has stopped her Vet nursing work for now, although she could continue as a key worker, but she didn't want to put the children into school. She is doing some Yoga lessons on the internet, some for free and some paid, so there is some money coming in. Darren, her husband is still working from home at the moment.

The biggest challenge for our daughters is keeping the little ones occupied. Our eldest daughter has a son of six and daughter of two and our youngest daughter has a daughter of six and four year old twin boys, but at least they both have gardens and the weather to date has been kind. One of the twin boys fell off his bike last week and went to paediatric A & E where a bone fracture was diagnosed. Our daughter said that the hospital was virtually deserted, they were the only patients. The doctor confirmed it had been ridiculously quiet with, on some days, only a tenth of normal patient Nos presenting. This was highlighted on national news recently with paediatric doctors stating they are concerned that ill children are not attending when they should be.

Our son is a pilot for easyjet and has been put on two months leave, although easyjet have done it in such a way that he is effectively on half pay funded by the government.   At the moment easyjet have grounded the entire fleet. His girlfriend is continuing to work in Lewes as a key worker for her company.

We are keeping in touch with all the children and Grandchildren on Skype or Facetime daily which is lovely, although we are finding it difficult not to actually be with them. We are into a routine now where we connect to the Grandchildren at bedtime and read a story or the older two read to us, which is lovely and is working really well. We are used to seeing a lot of them all very regularly and they often sleep here. We do very much look forward to getting back to seeing them.

Our mum, who suffers from dementia,  is OK in her rest home in Shoreham, although we have not been able to see her for 5 weeks now, as they went into lock down much earlier. They have no cases of the virus to date and are obviously doing all they can to keep it that way. We are able to talk and see her on Skype once a week, and also to phone her once a week. Her bungalow remains empty, currently under offer, but we don't expect that to progress much further at the moment.

We did manage a few days in an airb&b, 12 century mill house in Dorset a week or so before lock down which has proved to be a godsend. When and where will the next holiday be? It will be very interesting to see how the Country and World settles down after this. We don't really expect to get away out of the Country this year now. We would probably be very happy exploring a bit more of the UK once we are allowed out.

Another consequence of the lock down and NHS crisis, is dealing with people with illnesses other than Covid - 19. Our Brother in Law,  has been diagnosed with myeloma, and is waiting to commence a course of chemotherapy. He is also waiting to have a Gall bladder removal. Non of which is scheduled to happen any time soon because of the current situation.

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Elaine: 

At this time of lock down, I have much for which to be thankful.

I have my husband. We walk and talk every day. We are able to go on the Downs. I appreciate the warm sunshine,  the colours of the spring flowers and the different bird calls. Strangers say "hello" and "thank you" when we pass.

Some like my 94 year old mother- in- law are unable to go out and spend lonely days completely alone.

I am at home. So many have been stranded abroad and do not know when they will be able to travel.

It was my birthday at the end of March. I saw most of my family on zoom and they sang to me. I also received a lot of cards in the post and text messages. 

I have more time to pray and read my Bible. Many churches have their services online. My daughter-in-law has provided a children`s Bible story with songs and suggested craft activities.

My choir has started a weekly singalong on zoom and I am able to teach some of my music pupils on skype.

I have time to do some spring-cleaning and sorting out though I prefer to knit or crochet! Apparently the product most sold in DIY stores has been paint!

I am very conscious of our Christian friends in Bosnia who have been helping the large number of refugees who pass through their town with medical aid, food, showers and shelter. Now of course they are not able to serve them in the same way. They do have services on skype or whatsapp. They long to help the big refugee camps in other parts of the country where many are infected with the virus and have minimal health care and perhaps only one small meal a day.

It is good to know that God is with us through it all and He cares for each one of us.

When life gets back to "normal", it will be lovely to hug our family and friends again.

I hope that we shall continue to appreciate and value one another more.  

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