Here’s my latest mask…

Not something you’d heard me say even a few weird weeks ago…

I’ve made a couple more and have matching black cotton gloves – for my weekly sortie to the local shop, negotiating gates and stiles, etc.

Now, I realise they don’t prevent me getting infected. But they DO reduce the chance of me passing it along.

When I get home, straight into the washing machine they go.

Just think… a month ago if I’d worn these, people would have thought I was some kinky kind of cat burglar…

But today I’m sporting tartan, so reckon that my Scottish mother, God rest her, is chuckling very loudly, right now, where ever she is…

~~~~~~~~~

The next new norm is celebrating ‘alone / together’…

For me this meant cooking up a self-isolated storm, for Easter Sunday lunch and then sitting down to eat it with family and friends via a group WhatsApp video call.

It was a strange experience, but then strange is definitely the new norm. It felt a bit fractured and initially awkward, but we persevered.

So I can say I shared my Easter lunch with three other households – with comings and goings and one of the group falling asleep. So al in all just like ANY big family meal then!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The long Easter weekend was a mixture of highs and lows…

The highs were helped by getting out into the world and my new norm of regular fresh air forays – either walking or running each day.

And when I reflected on it, there were so many more highs: Spring has most definitely sprung; the sunshine lifted my spirits; and I had my first sight of Bluebells this year.

And just in case you needed it, I thought I’d share 30 seconds of bird song and (the running water of my local) brook – a little gift of tranquility, from me to you in the Time of Corona…