The Come-Back, Day 5. Normality and Cancellations.

Yesterday afternoon, not even twenty-four hours after getting tested, my daughter got a call. She is negative for Covid-19. She simply had a little spring cold. With this virus, every little sniffle becomes suspect, and we tend to forget that other illnesses, much more benign, still exist and infect us.

So, she has now fully installed herself in the house. My solitary days are over. 

Life is slowly getting back into its regular grooves. Now that we can move a bit more, I am going to go back to shopping on Saturday afternoons in the next township, where there are some supermarket chains I frequent that don't exist in my township. But I will still try to stock up to not have to run out in the middle of the week. I don't want to be exposed to many people without any reason yet, even though the number of infected is going down in our region. 

I am also getting back into the groove of moving my body every morning. Last week I went walking for a half hour almost every day. This week, it's been forty-five minutes. Next week, I'll try to up that to an hour. My legs are still hurting a bit, but less, and I am not breathing as heavily. If all goes well, I might even try walking to Santiago at the end of summer this year. Maybe. Or maybe next year.

Maybe next week, or the week after if we pass to Phase Two, I'll go cut and color my hair. Again, I don't want to push things, but my hair is starting to drive me nuts. Today it's quite windy, with the northeast wind that in the summer months helps to keep down the temperatures in our region, and my hair whirling around on my head doesn't let me see anything. 

I've read that the festivals, O Son do Camiño (Santiago, June), Portamérica (Caldas de Reis, June-July), and Resurrection Fest (Viveiro, July), have all been cancelled for this year. I assume that Festival do Noroeste, normally celebrated in August, in A Coruña, will also be cancelled. Sting was coming to Vigo on August 1st, and it's been rescheduled for next year on July 31st, without having had tickets go on sale yet. Small parish festivals have been cancelled. The festival of the Virxe do Carme, on July 16th, is cancelled. It's a big holiday, celebrated in many towns and parishes on the coast, because she is the patron saint of mariners. I assume that our township's main festival, the Guadelupe, in September, will also be cancelled. This is going to be a boring summer. Understandable, but boring. 

And expensive. Prices at the supermarket are going up. Fish, especially. Keeping in mind that many people are unemployed because of the situation, temporarily or permanently, soup kitchens and food banks are seeing an increase in customers. Hard times are approaching.

That is the reason why those who have had the luck to maintain their jobs and incomes should spend their money locally. Instead of running to the computer and making Jeff Bezos the new trillionaire, they should go into town and buy what they need at the local shops that are still open. Perhaps they could even order a lunch or dinner to go from one of the many bars and restaurants that are subsisting by doing only takeout these days. This is when those who have more should help those who have less, actively, or passively. I hear there is also a motion to raise taxes on those whose savings exceed a million euros. Depending on the monthly income of those people, I think it would be a good idea. 

In California, a herd of goats decided to try new pastures. They broke through the fence penning them in and went down the streets of the town, trying out new gardens. Even they were pining to end their lockdown! 

Life continues. Except musically.





 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Not So Fast, 9. Fairness.

We're Moving!

In Normal Times, 1. Blinking Awake.