After a very brief period of tier 2 restrictions for Leicester we're all back in lockdown, although this time I've decamped to my mothers. She's having a hip replaced tomorrow and needs a dogwalker/dogsbody; this time around I've got company, space, and a dog to whine incessantly at me if I try and eat a biscuit so I expect to come out the other end considerably fitter.
Having spent a lot of time in Lockdowns this year though I thought I might as well share what I've learnt, it's a list very much from the point of view of more or less single women living in a city centre but who can say what's helpful until they see it.
The first thing is that despite all the talk about a winter lock down being harder than a spring one, I'm not particularly buying it. This lockdown isn't quite as draconian, and winter is surely the time when we want to retreat into our own homes a bit. Summer, when my park was full of bald man basking in the sun and marinating in Carling, and I was stuck in a small flat with nowhere to go was hard. Winter when I can cosy up with all the books and the knitting is a much less daunting prospect. As Virginia Woolf points out winter walks have there charms as well.
There is also Christmas to plan for. It'll be different for most of this year which makes it a good thing to focus on now to make sure it's as good as it can be - plan for the worst, hope for the best, and all that.
Regarding the cosying up and Christmas, the one thing I've done in the nature of panic buying is order extra coffee from Monmouth street. I like getting the post, I'm always happy to get good tea or coffee as a present, I think it's a nice thing to give, and it's also the small highlights that get you through the day (and the caffeine).
Blogs, podcasts, and twitter read alongs, have all been great - anything that you can engage with when it suits you and you need it is worth having on standby. It's also good to have somewhere you can honestly say things are getting on top of you. Twitter is my replacement for the casual but helpful workplace conversations which is just about the only thing I miss about working for Waitrose.
It won't be that bad!
Best of luck with your mother's hip replacement. It's a much easier operation and recovery than knees, even our delicate Peter got through it very well, and it's nice you'll be staying with her. You make a winter lockdown sound quite cozy and books are perfect for it!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely going to be easier for me through the winter. I don't want to diminish how hard it is for people who already struggle with the darker months, but I don't think we should be talking ourselves into thinking it's bound to be worse than it needs to be. Cosy is what I'm aiming for.
DeleteI absolutely agree that winter lockdowns are much easier. Where do I want to go anyway when the weather is cold and nasty? And books, tea, cozy slippers await. ;-)
ReplyDeleteExactly! There's been a whole industry based around the idea that we should either be cosying up indoors for winter, or getting wrapped up and heading out for a walk. As long as we're safe and warm and dry, it's not the worst time to retreat indoors.
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