Mr O and I dealt with the three months of isolation starting last March, we took the November confinement on the chin but our patience was beginning to run low as we entered the third lockdown.
The Zoom meetings we enjoyed last year were becoming a bore with voices and faces constantly freezing and often being told that we had to stay in the Zoom waiting room. Yet we can still watch life go by through our windows. And nothing is more exciting than what happens in our road, forget Netflix and Amazon Prime. We are still ardent twatchers. (Twitchers watch birds, twatchers observe people).
We have not seen our neighbour’s wife since summer. Has she left him, run off with an Amazon delivery man, or worse, is she gone forever? Who can forget Hitchcock’s wonderful film Rear Window, where James Stewart with a leg in plaster does nothing but watch his neighbours through his window? He is sure he has seen a murder. I cannot believe that someone in our nice road could go to such a length but we keep watching just to be sure.
Mr O is not happy. He is missing his golf, so our living room, luckily with a green carpet, has turned into a putting green and his golf has improved immensely. His other exercise is helping out with the hoovering. He looks very fetching in his pinny but I bet he misses his office!
We had such great plans for Christmas festivities, Big Boris had given us five days during which we could meet up with two other households. I started cooking like mad, planning a feast for the 24th for my Anglo-Swedish family, a veritable smorgasbord with twenty dishes. The day after a traditional English meal was planned by good friends but then just days before the event Big Boris cancelled Christmas and there we were with food galore and no guests. I hate to admit it but it was the most relaxed Christmas we have ever had, no noisy grandchildren, no granny getting grumpy and NO SPROUTS!
We still have not seen our children and grandchildren. Their wrapped presents are all stacked in the boxroom and the special light bought for my son to make up for lack of sunshine will probably be of little use when we finally meet come spring. And Mr.O’s big birthday in November was celebrated by just the two of us instead of the big family party we had planned. But at least there was champagne.
But now our screen fatigue and lock down lethargy have all disappeared. The cavalry is coming across the hill and we expect to be out of the bunker one day soon. We have both been given dates for our jabs and that is the much longed for shot in the arm for us “elderlies” We are so impressed with the efficient vaccine roll-out, in stark contrast to the Track & Trace failure. And soon Mr O and I can look forward to celebrate Christmas, Easter, Mr O’s significant birthday with family and friends. The turkey can come out of the freezer, the Swedish smorgasbord will be revived and who knows, we might even plan a holiday - a sunny spot, with a proper golf course for Mr. O.
PS I have just had my first jab and Mr O is having his next week. The organisation at Paxton Green Surgery was faultless.
