In 2020 there was an outbreak of 'flu. It started in China, and by March 2020 the WHO labelled it a pandemic.
The UK government's response was to restrict people's activities in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. These policies meant many people, myself included, were unable to go to work.
I decided I should spend some of my spare time writing this journal. There will be no theme to individual entries; just whatever I feel like writing. The images are (with a few obvious exceptions) taken within a half mile radius of our house.
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I finally read the government guidance on how we are supposed to function once we are opened. It was about 56 pages. There's no way I'll remember it all, but I have the gist of it.
I visited to Wickers Gymnastics Club. There was quite a few coaches there preparing things for opening. This is stark contrast to Hawth where we can not event get into the Leisure Centre without making prior arrangements. It was good to see everyone at Wickers again. We will restart adults' session on 30 July. I am looking forward to seeing people and being able to interact with them in a more direct way. I gather some clubs are not able to open on the date; it can take a while to prepare for opening under these new circumstances.
We are still walking the dog on a Wednesday evening. The hour's walk is great.
We are finally picking more French beans from the allotment. There's not loads of them, we picked a meal's worth last yesterday. We seem to have had to wait so long this year to get enough vegetables from the allotment to prevent the need to buy them.
The honey suckle has produced loads of bright red berries. I gather these ones are not edible (though some are). I think it is a good year for fruit.
Virgin Internet finally broke this morning. There have been many rumours on how things are straining under the load, but we have had minimal disruption until today. Of course, I had a Zoom session. I used my phone's connection, and was quite surprised at how well it worked. I reckon the sessions use about 1.5GB / hour, though I'm told it depends up on the number of screens you are running. You wouldn't want to do it all the time. I will appreciate the arrival of 5G, despite the bad press it has received in recent months.
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Everyone is getting their first hair cut since lockdown. The hair dressers have all been fully booked since 4 July. Many are working extended hours to cope with the backlog combined with the reduced capacity. Hil got her appointment this week.
I spent the day In Hawth. We installed hand sanitizers around the gym and placed signs on the wall (keep your distance). It was weird to go back in there. I am looking forward to actually teaching some gymnastics in there.
As "normality" has begun to make a reappearance, the Friday Zoom socials have continued. I am quite pleased about this, and I hope we will keep it going a while longer. I suspect it will be me that has to pull out once I work on Friday evenings.
Face masks will be obligatory in shops after 25 July, which is a bit of a turnaround for the government. I think it has proved impractical to maintain a social distance (not that we're sure how far that is any more) in some situations. Hil is fully in favour of this, and has spent the weekend making loads of washable, reusable masks.
The number one film at the US cinema box offices is "The Empire Strikes Back". This film was released in 1980. There have been no film releases in the last four moths, so the cinemas that have been able to open have been showing old movies.
We visited Hil's mother and walked with her to the park for a socially distanced picnic. It was gently raining, so we sheltered under a tree. We took camp chairs, camp table. We each took our own food; we had home made bread rolls filled with smoked salmon, lettuce and mayonnaise. Followed by this was home made cheese puffs. It's a strange habit, but I try not to drink too much water before I leave the house, it can be hard to find a toilet.
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It's been busy this week. Somehow, there is so much to prepare before we go back into the gym on Saturday. We have had long enough to think about it. The Leisure Centre our gym is situated in is not that organised either. I didn't realise it at the time, but confirmation we would be able to start was only given on yesterday (Wednesday). They have yet to decide on the final details, such as which toilet we will use.
The Zoom sessions have taken on a new slant. I find myself saying, "Well guys, this is the last Zoom session. I will see you soon!". I am not suggesting I want to become a Zoom expert, but I realise I have got better at it over time. I haven't counted precisely, but I think I have run over 70 Zoom sessions. I have learned to move the camera to ensure participants can see the right body part, and be clear with the words. We have all learned how to participate in Zoom conferences (children included). Many of the younger gymnasts keep the microphone switched off and only turn it on when they want to speak. They get the information they want, then return to their isolation.
While we were out walking, we saw a friend we have not seen since March. My initial thought was that they were just someone who looked like our friend. The novelty of speaking face to face has not passed. There was so much news to share.
The allotment is now providing courgettes, French beans and cauliflower. Today I brought the shallots back to dry in the garden. The sun flowers have started as well. There will be lots to do there soon, just as I am about to go back to work.
I am sitting outside in the garden as I write this, but it's not particularly warm. It hasn't been a spectacular July so far. We should not moan; the past three months have been extremely warm.