Just shared this on my Storyteller blog. But here it is again. A glimpse of covid times. How things have changed!
Day 41 – Friday – Checking in
Yesterday I had to do a shop, so I ventured south for the first time in a month. I haven’t been near Tokai since lockdown, so the not-so-empty mall was a new and slightly stressful experience. Queues outside Checkers Hyper which felt like the person behind was breathing down my neck. Queues in Dischem. Walking out into the parking lot was a relief as I navigated my trolley back to the car parked as far as I could so I could walk more. But then the sense of eyes watching me as I pushed a full trolley and unloaded it. Unfriendly eyes. Ugh. Stressful.
The neighbour is running our street food distribution so I offloaded some stuff with her and took our bounty home. Cyril was due to speak and actually, I just couldn’t. I hit the wall. Brene Brown says that if you cannot climb it, go around it or go under it, sometimes you just need to build a fort and take a nap. So I did.
Today was a 2-hour discussion on education in South Africa using tech and the way forward with experts from around the country. Our primary school is way ahead of the curve and our kids are so fortunate in their schooling.
Fridays are picnic lunch next to the pool, with cats attending and hopeful.
The youngest learnt that if you chat to your friends on Google chat you have to still do school after lunch. It was a traumatic realisation. The firstborn discovered that putting off the subjects you don’t like (and watching animal rescue on YouTube) means you don’t get to play games in the afternoon like your sibling. Also a sad realisation. Behaviour has not yet changed for either. This is a house of cards that will come crashing down.
HH drank his second last beer, I had my 4th last half glass of wine and we closed off the working week by watching James Bond in Thunderball. We’re working through the list but looks like we have to skip The Spy Who Loved Me as its not age-appropriate. The kids love the spy stuff but my gosh. James Bond was a lecher! And as for the attitude to women and of course, the 60s clothes, smoking, women’s styles with pointy boob bras and men always in suits… it’s been an education of an age thankfully gone by.
Day 43 – Checking out
I love weekends. I love the slow starts, breakfast, the sense of time that I have. The fact that we try to do no-screen Saturday-Sundays. We packed up some items to pass on to friends, some belated birthday gifts and the shopping bags and I set out to pick up veg which was in short supply earlier in the week and drop off some items (safely, without personal contact of course).
It was insane how busy the shops were. I drove past Spar (queues outside), then the new Emporium (the parking lot was overflowing), so I opted to do the WW at the petrol station. Back past 2 friends, then saw our local shopping centre looked like a normal Saturday which meant I drove on by and chose to stop at the little Indian shop. Bliss – fresh hot samosas straight from the frying pan! HH was enamoured of me as he slowly crunched through.
We lost ourselves in an entire series of Shaun the Sheep last night. Seriously. We laughed until we cried. Aardman is just brilliant!
And Sunday? Well, quiet morning with online church, calls with my brother and a bestie, a braai, an afternoon nap and then some Netflix. Oh the ecstasy of my youngest at the reality of braai, pork chops, roosterkoek, marshmallows and, ta da, for teatime, a milk tart!
The eldest got a new book and disappeared for 4 hours, emerging blinking myopically and happy.
My weekend highlights? Phone calls with friends, fewer screens, good books, cats sleeping on the end of the bed.
Sadness for a friend who lost her 93 year old ouma (but thankfully, in her sleep last night without trauma). A giggle at my mom who saw that one of her neighbours was selling masks because she put a sample on her gatepost to let people know this was where to purchase – mum stopped and tried on the sample then popped it back in the packet because, you know, one should always try before one buys. Concern that the coronavirus deathtoll is 200,000 worldwide. Joy to chat to my brother. Laughter and head slaps at small boys and their need for dangerous toys! Eek at hitting our internet cap tonight.
It’s Freedom Day tomorrow. I wonder how many people will really feel free in our country? I’m guessing that Freedom tomorrow HAS to be something of the heart, not the body. As Mandela demonstrated in his life.
I’m reminded of Brave Heart’s final scene where William Wallace is broken and dying. Of the camera that pans to his clenched hand as a final cry of “freeedoommm” is wrenched from his soul and a small blue scrap of his wedding wrap flutters free with his last breath.
America shouts “give me liberty or give me death”. Tonight I think, South Africa, that we, all of us, have the call of “give me liberty or give me freedom”. Perhaps liberty is my right to do. But I think freedom is different. Freedom is my gift to be.
