Day 13 of lockdown in Italy: I still haven’t worked out if lock down is one word or two words. Regardless, we are still here, inside. The inclement weather helps me feel less resentful at not being able to go outside. But only marginally.
We’ve had a very quiet day. Miss S challenged me to a game of Connect 4 over breakfast. She kicked my butt fair and square. You know how you sometimes let your kids win when they’re little and still learning the rules and strategy. Well, those days are long gone. Checkers, chess, Cluedo, Phase 10 and Connect 4 all mean she has stepped into the adult world of take no prisoners when playing games.
I was going to do some baking but decided to wait until we buy eggs (hopefully tomorrow), only to discover Gigi and Miss S in the kitchen whipping up a batch of choc chip cookies at 5:30pm. It was all very promising until he came rushing in exclaiming “Can’t you smell them burning?” ...like I was on cookie oven watching duty.
I spoke to my sister, nephews and parents in Melbourne. Mum’s broken nose is healing. My nephew Lachy has shaved his head for cancer fundraising. I teasingly asked the older nephew if he had a girlfriend only to have him blush and hide his face in his T-shirt. Gee I hated being a teenager who had relatives asking embarrassing questions. Gee it’s fun to be that embarrassing relative.
Miss S video chatted with a friend, watched TV, did some work on her fantasy novel chapter assessment, painted one fingernail and then went down to the home gym with Gigi.
I had a delightful video chat with my darling AFS friend Deneys who’s living in Tokyo. We circled the world with our conversation. Originally from South Africa, we met in 1987 while on exchange in Thailand. He’s someone I trust completely. I met his family when I went to Cape Town in 1994. He met my family on a trip to Australia and last saw my parents on their trip to Japan last year. I just wished he lived over the fence.
Briefly in COVID-19 news there are fears of a widespread shortage of medical supplies in the USA. How does this happen in one of the wealthiest countries in the world? COVID-19 is going to go down in Trump’s political report card as a big red “F”.
Italy recorded 693 deaths today, down from yesterday’s record of 765. The government is tightening lock down measures even further though with a combined loss of more than 800 Italians in 24 hours. We are just doing one day at a time.
Australia is slowly, and perhaps reluctantly, starting to shut down. Schools may or may not be open (each state is overseeing the closure of schools in line with the federal government restrictions) but parents can keep their kids at home. Bottle shops are definitely staying open ... the panic buying has moved from toilet paper to alcohol as people start to get fully prepared for a long stretch at home. Hairdressers and golf courses are still open. Whew!
Spain reported a jump of 5000 new infections in 24 hours with the situation expected to worsen further.
UK continues to be a basket case. End of discussion.
Miss S did some work on some Girl Guide badges and she read several pages of Little Women to me at bed time. I may or may not have fallen asleep. I’m trying to expand her reading level and vocabulary. I bought it for her for Christmas but it occurred to me this morning that it might also help get her to sleep. It worked! Tonight is the first time in a week she hasn’t wandered into our room at 11pm to announce that she just isn’t tired enough to sleep. Only problem is I’m now going to have to re-read those pages because I’ve never read “Little Women” and I figure just watching the movie recently isn’t going to cut it.
So that was our very quiet second Sunday in lockdown. Maybe tomorrow will have some drama and excitement. I hope not.
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