Diary Entries

In my household there are two essential workers. A disability support worker and an age care worker. The work doesn't end for us. Also in my household there are two children. A nine year old who has missed the normal school routine and a very eager three year old who can't understand why she is not allowed back to early learning. New rules and new structures for us all to learn as well as remote learning. Then keeping up to date with all the health advice that changes daily. Finding a new way to say hello to friends by standing across the road or video calling. It seems like every day was a day that ended in "y" haha. We are grateful to be returning to some type of new normal. Children need to be able to go to playgrounds and see their friends. Now more than ever I understand the importance of Family and socialisation a friendly phone call to a loved one can mean so much to people. Mail a letter to someone elderly to them it is so much more than just a piece of paper it is a timeless connection to the way things used to be and a small piece of time and effort but a whole lot of heart.

I have not seen my 83 yr old mother since February. She lives 3 hours away in a nursing home in Sydney and has moderate Alzheimer’s. The home has made scheduled 30min visits available during the week in the last few weeks however I am at work during those times. I miss her terribly and my 12yr old daughter has cried as she wants to see her so badly. Children under 16 are still totally banned from visiting at the moment. It has been a relief that school has returned and I have returned to the office. As a single parent it was a juggling act trying to work from home & home school. I am quite the introvert and actually enjoy a lot of time alone and like being home. Funnily enough when you have to stay home and that freedom of choice is taken away suddenly it felt very restrictive and I could think of a thousand things I’d like to go out to do once I wasn’t allowed to. Just going for a good shop was sorely missed.

I work in long day care, and when the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality in our city, our attendance dropped to a quarter of the usual numbers and many families withdrew altogether from care. I think it is worthy of note that in the month since the majority of families came back due to the government making childcare free, the children have never been healthier. There are no sudden fevers, no sniffles, no bungee boogers, no coughs in their sleep; everyone catches their (infrequent) sneezes in their elbow and most of them now wash their hands like professionals (a few still dip their fingertips and run because children's lives are too busy even for a pandemic). It's been a real eye opener. Perhaps we should all take 6 weeks away from planet Earth every year...?

I can feel the winter breeze on my skin. I can feel the normal escaping back into my lungs. I can feel the anticipation of exams beginning once again, but this time, this time it’s different. This time I welcome it. Questions still ring in our minds, traces of fear are still there as well, but normal is washing over us more and more. Hope once flickered in the dark, and now hope is a raging flame. Our lives are returning, but are they not the lives we once knew? It is too early to say.

I religiously followed the C19 lockdown restrictions imposed by the NSW government. It was good because as a vulnerable Sen-ager, all I did was stay home. My children and I were in constant contact to make sure everyone in the family was okay. I heard about panic buying, and the pandemonium going about in all big grocery shops: Coles, Woolies, Aldi, IGA and even COSTCO. But I missed watching those funny scenarios in action. Three weeks into self-confinement, my victuals ran dry. I need food so I must get out to buy them. Online shopping is simply not for me, besides they're very costly. Imagine my shock to find almost all the shelves in store were empty! No toilet paper and no hand sanitiser, where the infamous Australian controversy began that shamefully had reached the world news scene. No facial tissue, nopaper towel, no rice, sugar, eggs, flour, and yes, Pasta! To the kitchen section, even the lowly vinegar, bleach, and sodium bicarb powder for cleaning were zilch! Nada! To the bathroom essentials... if it's not telling in exaggeration, even toothbrush was nowhere to be found so was the handwash cream. I can live without these later essentials, but food. Fruits and vegetables were in abundance. That was my primary concern. Covid taught me many things. Apart from the clean environment including the atmosphere/hemispheres, the birds are back in my backyard. For the first time, I dutifully learned cooking beyond my comfort zone. YouTube has been my companion and friend. I've watched chefs who are not famous, but shared with us their culinary fares. And for the first time, I've learned that I can make an Ice Cream with only two ingredients. I bet you can figure it out what they are!

Breakfast in Lockdown 'At the still point, there the dance is.' T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets Each day kicks off the same, so here you sit looking out to the garden and beyond, with one ear tuned to morning news the other to the birds-- a thoughtful time when it would be easy to forget what you know lies beyond the limits of your vision. Between angled roofline and treetops, the horizon is a rift of sky pencilled in with blue, until two pelicans, as white as passing clouds soar into view. Wingtip to wingtip, legs trailing they rise and fall, exultant on the updraught, taking you with them to where sky and water are one.

In a time of such change, my little world did not change as much. My work didn't close and a small number of children from essential services have remained coming, with lots of doting educators to support them. What has changed is my reminder of what is important and how little actions can change your day in an instant. A smile to the lady in the supermarket and a joke about the proper distance of social distancing, her reply "its nice to see someone smiling". The cars and walkers slowing down to look at the rainbow ribbon on our plane tree out front, part of the Rainbow Trail on Facebook to entertain the children. But also the people jumping away from you if you get too close, the dirty looks if you happen to cough or sneeze (into your elbow of cause!!!}, the gloves and face masks. It can't help but make you feel claustrophobic and just a little afraid. The person who seems to have no idea what keep a distance means as you dash into the supermarket, checking the trolley is wiped, spilling watery hand sanitiser down your wrist, worrying how many people have touched the bananas you have grabbed, oh well, at least the skin peels off!! Now the wait for the "2nd wave", a doomsdayer's dream, merely words I hope. And HOPE is the one thing I have held onto, together with the ability to hug and show love to my family. HOPE that people realise what is REALLY important in their world to make them whole, who matters, what actions matter, what lifestyle matters, what options matter, What really is important,... In my humble opinion it's HOPE, WHY?? simple really HOPE doesn't run out on a supermarket shelf.

COVID19 sucks because I cant see my family in Victoria and if you go to Melbourne you will get a fine by going on the road and the police will caught you by going on the road.

It’s cold outside, but the smiles are bright and the conversation warm. I feel a little uneasy being in public, with crowds. There is no social distancing really. One lady ran her trolley into mine, put her hand in my shoulder and said “Sorry, love,” into my face. I felt guilty that I wondered her “Covid Status”. More people seem to have dogs now. Sausage dogs seem popular. I think I want a cat.

2020 Aust on fire so hard to watch So much loss But Together we stand. And then comes the rain and tears of joy fall. we relish a few weeks of norm. But then the virus comes like no other  and  ' iso' becomes the norm. Just heed to 1.5, stay at home to flatten the curve. We are all in this together. And just like that these words become vocab norm WFH PPE Zoom Iso Tik tok Social distancing Just when you thought the unrest is over Sadly, a US Cop does George Floyd over BLM another word added We are all in this together Everyone, Just show some respect