Venturing

Cocooning began on 27th March! That's almost six weeks. Six weeks of being 'advised' not to move outside one's home. 'Home' in this context was all well and good for those of us who live in the traditional 3-bed semi-d with garden front and back, but imagine how limiting those six weeks have been for apartment dwellers, who only access to outside space has been a tiny balcony.

There's been a lot of talk about the fact that cocooning was advisory rather than mandatory, but the advisory aspect was down-played all the time, to the extent that I haven't once stepped past the wall separating my front garden from the street. So today's relaxation which allows cocooners to venture out to take exercise was a bit of a big thing psychologically.

I didn't venture far, but I still experienced a feeling of liberation as I walked down the lane on the far side of my road (see extra) and walked the short distance along the road parallel to mine and along a rectangle that brought me back home — so 'around the block'. This nameplate won't mean anything to anybody unfamiliar with my local geography, but being beside it was a really significant moment for me.

We old people are now also allowed to 'go for a drive' (respecting the 5km restriction, of course). My round-the-block walk was in the morning. I waited until the afternoon to take the car out, intending to make my way to St Anne's Park and take a little stroll there. The plan came to nothing, unfortunately, because all the roads nearby were lined with no-parking bollards. At least I got to roll down the window.