Day One Hundred and Thirty Nine - Unshielded

Today is the day that the people who have been shielding since March can now go out for the first time. Is it further evidence of my perversity that I find this ironic? These are the highly vulnerable people for whom contracting Covid could mean almost certain hospitalisation. And as infection rates start to rise in the country the shielding is paused. I think that if I were one of those people I probably wouldn't go out. Or maybe do what I'm already doing, go out at a time when there are very few people around.

It was so hot last night I didn't sleep. I was lying on the covers, then  under the covers. Too hot, too chilly. I couldn't get comfy. I couldn't relax. I wandered round the house. I drank water but I couldn't get to sleep. Eventually I dozed, probably about three in the morning? So when the time came to get up and prep for my walk I turned over and tried to sleep again which I did for about an hour and a half. But it means I'm feeling a bit ragged today. Not to mention lacking in exercise.

I also think I spent too long yesterday sitting down in the same chair.  I've had a lot of lower back pain. Just one step away from taking painkillers which I've resisted so far. My sister is coming down tomorrow so I need to spruce things up a bit. So I've been running the Hoover round and cleaning the kitchen floor. Bless her, in spite of the fact that she can't walk without a stick, she's offered to do some gardening for me because she knows how troublesome my hands are at the moment. I doubt that I shall let her. Doesn't seem fair at all. But maybe the pair of us could do a bit of social distance weeding for a half hour so.

Woe of woes. Some new people have moved into the ground floor flat the other side of my rear neighbours. I'm beginning to wonder if they might be related. Because they seem to be as loud. And they have a dog. I know they've just moved in but there've been dogs, wailing babies, music, power tools, foghorn conversations this morning. Makes me realise how lucky I was yesterday to get such a long stretch of time when I could sit outside and read. And the new dog has set the others all off barking. It was like Battersea dogs home out there this morning but louder. 😉

But I am wondering whether I'm just a miserable, intolerant old lady. I keep saying to myself it never used to be like this. I'm telling myself that a lot of it is to do with lockdown and the concentration of people all around at one time. I need to try and stop reacting to it all. Just shrug my shoulders, shut the doors and come into my study to escape the worst of it. But there is a part of me that says it shouldn't be that way. I suppose the one good thing about the easing of lockdown is that people are returning to work so there's not as many people around during the weekdays anyway.

There is some talk of pubs closing again to allow schools to open! It is being referred to as a "trade-off". Apparently there is a rise in the number of infections in younger people. That didn't seem to have been a problem up to now so naturally there must be some concerns about children returning to school in September. Of course such an idea has its objectors. One professor said that if testing were more efficient there would be no need for these trade-offs. Her actual word was "coherent".  I'm not into politics at all but I still think the managing of this thing is so difficult for anybody, regardless of the politics. It's so easy to say oh, they got it wrong, and yes I do think they've got a lot of it wrong but how does anyone know what the right thing to do is? This is a virus that is mutating faster than I can eat a whole packet of Hobnobs and that's pretty fast.