Originally Posted by
Fschwep
Here in France we have a more strict lockdown, we need a signed statement that we are either out and about for serious things like work (with an additional statement from your employer, or another proof, like a police ID, press card or other 'carte professionelle'), to buy neccessities for daily life, to go to a medical appointment, care for an elderly or handicapped person, or go for a stroll alone or with your dog for at most an hour and no further than 1 km from your residence. Many people now work from home if that is possible (meaning office jobs). Schools, restaurants, theaters, sports halls, gyms, dance classes, pubs, luxury/fashion stores are all closed. Public transport runs at a very reduced schedule. Mail is distributed three days per week instead of 6.
For us, well, we live in a rural location, a village of 180 souls on 10 square km so social distancing is not difficult. In the nearest larger village the modestly sized supermarket limits the number of clients who can enter but people are disciplined and calm about it. Not many masks being worn, but a lot of hand washing and pocket bottles of hydro-alcoholic gel being used.
We did not have any public transport to begin with, so no difference there.
I have been working from home as an independent copywriter and editor for more than 20 years, and am at present pretty much retired, so I am in the habit of living mostly in and around our home anyway, at 62 years and with a bad knee that makes it less easy than in the past to just go on a brisk day hike into the hills. My wife was between jobs at the beginning of the lockdown, so also at home. We are fairly well used to spending a lot of time together instead of just going to work in the morning and meeting again at the end of the workday. Still, we try to be a bit more flexible and tolerant as we literally can't just walk out or go to do something elsewhere - not even a tai chi class or a visit to the physiotherapist to get some relief for a painful leg. Less shopping of course, apart from the internet. We have a lot family far away who flood the family Whatsapp groups with messages about every little detail of their confined existence and every joke they find - from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, India and Argentina. No ultra high speed internet so no Netflix or similar, just endless reruns of old tv series and last centuries' movies on the public channels.
Our home sits on a terrain that is pretty large for just a home, small of course for a farm or homestead, but 6000 square metres (1.5 acres) is good to have if you are mostly confined to your own garden and need some official paper to step on the road. Not that the place is crawling with police officers to fine us if we stick a toe out beyond the letterbox. We have two donkeys, half a dozen chickens and half a dozen cats to keep us busy (always poop to shovel), plus a veggy garden and many trees and bushes to trim, some DIY projects that I need to do but drag my bad leg on a bit. We have a good stock of food and were sufficiently stocked up on toilet paper that we did not to need to buy it when the whole world panicked about it. No debt, some modest savings but between my very small retirement and the bit of unemployment payment for my wife we have a very modest income; in that sense not much changes for us as it does for many people who are suddenly being laid off or stuck in temporary unemployment schemes. Cars were fueled at the start, and the home propane bulktank was topped off literally the day before the lockdown and will last into next winter if needed.
My most important gripe is that, being a balloon pilot, I can't fly. I was looking forward to an new flight season after a bad winter and had everything lined up - balloon maintenance and inspection done, first-aid and firefighting courses done (they have become mandatory under new EU rules), medical renewed (three hours in my doctor's waiting room, ten days before the lockdown), everything. And now, nothing. It's not my bread and butter, although formally I'm a commercial operator (almost everybody is now, under EU regulations), but I just love to fly and can't. I started in ballooning in 1982 and have never missed a season since. At 62 I can go on for another 7 years or so before I hit the age limit and, to be honest, will probably be in a too crappy state of health to continue. So missing one of the few seasons left in my life is disappointing to say the least. But not world shattering compared to getting sick and dying, so I swallow it up and tell myself to accept probably losing most of this season and enjoy our green place. Compared to people cooped up in a small apartment in a big city we are very well off, and the change is not as disturbing. I'll take to the air when the crisis is over if I'm still here. And then I will probably go quite high, to enjoy seeing half the country in one great sweep.
No contrails high in the sky. Last week one evening we watched the ISS passing overhead and it was the only man-made thing up there. Crazy.
We try to be careful and not get sick, covid or otherwise, or have an accident, as this is really not the time to end up in a hospital or a doctor's office.
Care homes for the very elderly in the area received no masks but body bags last week, unannounced. Bad sign of what is coming.