Day Seventeen - 'There is something goin' down. And I can feel it'

I spent half the night worrying about my sister. Not that she might have the virus. But that she might have something else. And I wouldn't know what to do to help her in the circumstances. She said the pain reminded her of when she had shingles. So I was mightily relieved this morning when she answered my text saying that she felt better. But it's still left me wondering. During this lockdown I couldn't go to her. If either my brother or sister got sick with the virus I couldn't be with them. I'm just wondering how people are faring with loved ones in hospital, intensive care even. Are they even allowed to see them at all? I'm not saying I'm superstitious but that's two family health worries I've had this week. It's making me uneasy.

My WhatsApp has been pinging itself into oblivion. Rather rashly I agreed to join my old school chums' WhatsApp group. The idea was everyone did a thumbs up to say they're okay. But there's messages and stuff flying back and forth all day long! I can't keep up with it. I am one of the world's worst when it comes to messaging. I still have an iPhone 4S which is quite small and it's so fiddly to type. I get fed up. In fact my friend and I have a name for it. We call it 'finger fatigue'. We both know when finger fatigue strikes because one of us gives up messaging and hits the call button. And the first greeting is 'Finger fatigue?' But it seems everyone is relying heavily on the internet in these lockdown days. People working from home, video conferencing etc. People streaming endless box sets and films and music. Online shopping. What happens if the Internet can't cope with all this extra traffic and implodes? We would be plunged into another sort of chaos. A lockdown darkness. Landlines would suddenly come into their own again! But it's no laughing matter really, is it? It might be interesting to keep a 'digi diary' during this time and see just how much we do connect within a 24 hour period. And how much of that do we really need? What could we do without. I know that as someone lockdowned alone I would feel very much more solitary without that frequent pinging which on the surface irritates at times but when it comes down to it, it means there are other people just a bandwidth away!

I read on the news that this week there has been an increase in traffic. 'Concerning rise in car journeys.....'. Ha ! The Attention Deficit Disorder of the British public.  Lockdown for a week, bored, so we'll go out in the car. That's staying home isn't it? After all we might be living in a caravan, that's a home on wheels. But another statistic on the rise is the number of deaths. There are still people insisting we 'keep things in perspective'. But perspectives are not finite. the argument that the mortality rate is a small percentage of the total population is not the point. It is the speed at which that percentage has been reached. I am wondering whether the percentages and the statistics won't really 'matter' in terms of perspective until this is all over. It would be interesting to examine them then and maybe say yeah that's normal overall for the time of year. Personally I think it's anything but normal. It gives me the shivers.

So before I'm shivered too much let's lift the mood. I think someone was taking pictures of me this morning on my walk. Videoing me I think. Did not ask my permission. So I'm a bit annoyed. I'm worried too. Supposing it goes on social media? A clip of some eccentric old fart with a 'Keep Your Social Distance Please' sweatshirt on, lustily singing 'Don't Look back in Anger' at the top of their voice going viral isn't my idea of fun. But I've got to say, for the most part, those joggers, bless their hearts, they are getting it finally. 99% are. They are keeping to the main path and not trying to run the rest of us off the smaller paths. So the walk is pleasurable. There's one lady I pass every day. I don't know her. The first time I noticed her was because she very deliberately created a social distance. It was so rare and I was so pleased I did a double thumbs at her to show my approval. Now every time she sees me she does a double thumbs up at me! Not a word is spoken but much is said. I wonder if we'll still walk when this is all over and maybe have a proper conversation.

Today I submitted a poem to Pendemic, an online literary magazine, created for writers to express themselves during this situation, to document this time together. pendemic.ie They have  kindly posted it. I'm posting it here.

I Do Not Claim

I saw a crow,
I call him Jim.
I do not claim to be original.
I saw a magpie.
I’d have liked two.
I do not claim to be superstitious.
I saw the ships.
Sailing up the estuary.
I do not claim to be a sailor.
I saw the sunrise.
Dawn is done.
I do not claim to be a night bird.
I’ve done my walk,
My essential exercise.
I do not claim to be immune.
I stay at home.
While others don’t.
I do not claim to understand.


Finally. Yesterday's lyric was correctly identified by 'Unknown' as Down Under by Men at Work. Today's?  You know the drill.