Surviving the lockdown

So I am tentatively stepping into day 10 of the ‘Lockdown’ – And the question I ask myself is: What am I going to do to pass the time creatively and usefully today??

There is naturally a lot of negativity, scaremongering and assumptions being made when I take my daily stroll through Social Media Street – In amongst all this I have found Dino Trubbianelli and the ‘We Love Abir’ page a great source of information – It really is inspiring to see what is essentially a ‘for the love of where we live’ group become a forerunner in keeping people educated and up to date as we negotiate these tricky times – After getting myself up to date with the latest twists and turns within the news it then comes to my thoughts that I should probably try and do a few actual twists and turns of my own and get my body moving before it shuts down on me completely.

There is tonnes of people partaking in ‘Lockdown HIT classes’ and somehow managing to stay motivated – My hat comes off to them all, especially Sean Lester of Vista Gym and local DJ fame, who every other day is inviting people to participate in an online class from home – What a great attitude and the community spirit people are showing by going the extra yard to try and help each other through these difficult times in any which way they can is testament to close bond that runs through our little village of Albir….. So I ‘watched’ the workout from my sofa with enthusiasm and interest and might even try and get off the bones of my bum and take part in the next one…..But for now I think I will work on the ‘ass groove’ on my couch just a little bit more – I have now developed a perfectly round indent that kind of envelopes me as I sit there monotonously flicking through the endless TV channels before declaring that ‘There is ‘nuffin on this bloody TV?!!’

It’s kind of funny how you pine for the simple things that you took for granted before – Many people are joking about the highlight of the day being things like taking the rubbish out – A job previously (in my house at least) that was seen as a real inconvenience and one that we would both try and leave for the other to do….

Talking and meeting friends down The Church, having a beer over a game of footy, or even just having a stroll to the shops with your partner without fear of being reprimanded all seem like they would feel like a lottery jackpot win right now! I guess this needs to be remembered and kept in perspective when everything returns to ‘normal’ – The harsh reality of no income at the moment, worrying about paying rent and rationing food is maybe a hard, but worthwhile lesson for us all moving forward and can perhaps help us to be a bit more thoughtful with how we live our life in the future.

I for one have always been a ‘live for the day’ kinda’ bloke – That’s all well and good when things ARE going well, but when the rug gets ripped out from underneath you it is a humbling lesson in the dangers of lacking a plan and makes me think of all the people who are considerably worse off in life than I am –I tell myself every few hours “BUCK UP AND STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF” – “Everything will be ok in the end”.

I asked one of my friends to drop off a footy for me today – I have visions and ideas of formulating some kind of Cristiano Ronaldoesque training camp in my back garden – Various obstacles and slaloms run through my mind, little one touch drills and all that stuff – Yessss that’s it, I may be 42 this year but I have a month or so until the Premier League restarts and what with injuries and illness surely there will be some teams crying out for an  overweight, never that good dreamer like me???? Hmmmmm maybe not then!!

OK so I have decided that instead I am going to put all my clothes on the wrong way around and live my day in reverse as the ‘Backwards Man’ – Some kind of Corona Virus hero that does everything back to front ….. I bumble around my house chanting “I am the backwards man…..I am the backwards man…. I can do anything you can do…..Faster than you can”

I am not sure if this one is going to catch on – I try to imagine which celebrity actor might play me in the Hollywood Blockbuster version of ‘Backwards Man’ – I can’t decide which strapping young superstar would have the skills to take on this role so I decide that I will shelve that character for now pending further thought….

Next up its time to revisit the fridge for the 8^th time today and its only 1.23pm – I don’t know what I am expecting to see in there this time – I ate my 3 trifles within half an hour of buying them on Saturday they are hardly just going to regenerate themselves are they??? But you know what – I am going to check anyway, you just never know, these are strange times after all!!!!

Damn I was right, no new trifles – Oooooo, what’s this??? I have struck gold – Deep in the darkest corner of the top shelf, just in one of those funny little egg holder trays I find a single Rolo that I gave to my Mrs some 3 years ago when  I was trying to be romantic back one day , all wrapped up, preserved and lovingly saved – Hmmmmm should I? Well the world is coming to an end after all, why waste it??? After some deliberation I decide that it is perhaps preferable that the Corona Virus gets me rather than meeting my demise at the heavy hands of my angry chocolates-less girlfriend…..

Tomorrow I might try and walk the entire perimeter of the inside of my house with my back touching the wall all the way around and see if I can manage it – Like I am sidling along some treacherous cliff top – Well it is ‘backs to the wall’ times after all so a bit of practice can’t hurt – Or maybe I’ll try and take some online Spanish course??? That could be useful!!!

It seems Cabin Fever is setting in – So that’s when I decided I would write this little memoir – I hope that I will look back on this in the very near future and laugh about things.

Times are difficult at the moment that is for sure – But ‘hard times do not create heroes – It is during the hard times that the hero within us is revealed’.

Thank you to everyone in our village – Thank you to all our emergency services people and all the volunteers and everyone else that is helping to keep the our little part of the world turning – And thanks to my boss and friend Georgina Doran for all the that she does in caring for us during this crisis. Stay safe all – Peace!!