This post is a bit serious but in my inimitable way, I finish on a lighter note 😄.
A saying I can remember adults using to describe when things went horribly wrong when I was growing up here in Australia in the 50s and 60s was, ‘and the wheels fell off the bus’. Or sometimes just, ‘the wheels fell off!’ And that’s how I describe what happened mid to late March this year. We had been hearing of this virus rampaging and killing people in the northern hemisphere and every day the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) would be speaking on news broadcasts assuring the world it wasn’t a pandemic at that stage.
In my school days we had learned about the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic but that was something way beyond our comprehension being so far back in time.
But to those who lived through it, it would have been horrific.
Then, back in March, every day as I watched the Aussie national broadcaster‘s, (ABC) breakfast show it became obvious that I was actually living through another momentous time in history. The wheels had fallen off the bus!! Big time!!
The news stories from overseas countries had unbelievable footage and the numbers of deaths grew so quickly. And then the cases started to be recorded here in Australia. Every morning the totals for each state would be listed; number with the virus and the number dead.
It seemed to happen overnight where businesses closed, people were in lockdown with restricted movement from their homes. In some states schools closed and eventually in the beginning of term 2, students went to online learning from home.
Supermarkets were open but shelves quickly emptied. In some places fights broke out in the aisles of supermarkets as being fought over groceries, especially toilet paper, hand sanitisers, flour and pasta.
My GP rang me to tell me about the flu vax and to assure me the medical centre was still open for business. She explained that if I made an appointment, I was to park in the car park, remain in my car and ring reception to say I’d arrived. They would then come to the car, check my temp then escort me to the doctor’s room. And of course there were telephone consultations which had been introduced because of the pandemic.
My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, those who lost jobs due to the lockdowns, to those whose businesses will fail for the same reason. How awful it must be for those who lie awake due to money worries, and worries about being able to keep their home or feed their family and also pay bills. Mental health breakdowns are on the increase too. The homeless must be even more vulnerable now. I worry for the families where domestic violence has escalated; what anxiety for children living in such environments.
I’m grateful for all those essential workers who kept providing services to the public but I’m ashamed of those in the community who directed verbal and physical abuse at those workers.
Just because DH, myself and our family are safe, our children still have jobs with most working from home, we know not all have been as fortunate as us. As most golf clubs remained open in Queensland during lockdown, DH and mates continued to play 3 days per week, which gave me lots of time to knit/crochet for K4BN, sew and garden.
(At the moment many people in Victoria are again facing lockdowns if they live in hotspots where the virus has again appeared. How horrible these Aussies must feel. 😫)
And friends would send me funny memes...
Stay tuned for some more of my ramblings about what we’ve done in these last 3 months or so. Because it’s been a case of living in a time of great change so we are all creating history in how we coped, how we adapted, how we helped others and so the list goes on.
