One of the strangest British summers is now drawing to a close. I’ve been on staycation, and it seems that in our polarised world, even this concept has been a cause of division. Newspapers used ‘staycation’ to describe the Prime Minister’s Scottish hideaway, among other UK-based diversions, while some people insist it should only be used to describe remaining at home while at leisure….
Several weeks back, in that working-from-home limbo before the staying-at-home-on-holiday, our resident teenager asked on a walk, ‘How has lockdown been for you?’. I realised in answering, that most of the things that symbolise this pandemic period for me, begin with B. So here, for what it’s worth, is my list of Covid-era phenomena. I’m all too aware that I’ve escaped the worst impacts of Covid-19 – the summer has been a time of thinking about what might prevail when the particular pressures of the here and now begin to resolve into something new (or at least the next thing). Plan B’s start here:
Birdsong
City dwellers rediscovered it – but even in the countryside, there has been conspicuously more of it. The benefits of nature in all its forms, as something to be shared and valued, have risen up the agenda. Uneven distribution of access to outside space has been highlighted by the unequal effects of lockdown. In Spring, when the world was at a standstill, I was regularly waking up at dawn chorus time, when the cacophony rang out above, well, nothing – the ambient silence noticeable even away from town…
Broken sleep
… hearing birds at dawn was part of the widely-shared trend of broken sleep. As well as waking early in the morning, intense dreams seem to be a common response to existential threat, and a lack of novelty in daily life. Sleep has already become an activity increasingly assessed through self-monitoring, and the pandemic has only underlined its significance for wellbeing…
Beards
Like many office workers now working from home, my other half’s step away from the commute has been symbolised by dropping daily shaving. If mass working from home has achieved anything (and I and many others hope it’s more than a fly-by-night fad, opening up new opportunities for flexible working) it has loosened working dress and grooming codes, possibly for the long term. When friends on Zoom call asked us ‘Who’s the sailor?’, I realised how much difference a few weeks not shaving can make…
Booze
… and we laughed over our communal drinks. The ‘quarantini’ has been a mainstay of online chat – as the drinking at home tendency has battled for supremacy with self-improving health trends. No-one seems to think these virtual events match up to real-life get-togethers, but they have at least kept relationships going while normal socialising has been on ice. The ‘Great British pub’ has been a major symbol of re-opening society, sometimes seeming to eclipse other priorities (as I wrote here). Boris Johnson even said that the communal spirit of mutual aid during crisis was something to ‘bottle’ and ‘swig’. Britain’s drinking culture looks unlikely to transform in a hurry …
Bread
… but the food system has come under new scrutiny as supply issues have emerged, when consumption patterns have changed, with more people eating at home all the time. Foodbanks are busier than ever, as poorer families have struggled to cope. If there’s one food that has epitomised catering for those who have been able to cook at home, it’s the home-baked loaf. Making bread – the process of kneading and resting – has an engrossing quality that has been appealing in an age of uncertainty. Our oven has been busy – turning out loaves and banana bread, and, yes, the ubiquitous sourdough. Will the starter survive any return to school and office? Who knows, but it has a name to guard against being taken for granted…
Blooms
If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, it’s been hard to avoid doing something in it. Apart from supermarkets, the garden centre was the only place to go for a while. Getting out and planting a few things has been good for body and soul, and the flowers that have come up have lifted spirits, and have their own routine – water, feed, weed repeat (oh, and bee-friendly pest control). Never has the window box or neglected bed been riper for improvement, or more appreciated
Byways
Good weather – and need to get off the desk chair – has led me, like many others, to explore local walks – another aspect of staying well in the time of Covid. I’ve even persuaded nearly-grown-up kids to join me sometimes, which has been one of the pleasures of this strange time –
Borrowed time
– and we’ve all been around each other so much more than would normally have been the case. It’s been all about remote learning for them, and far more time at home, rather than being out and about with friends. This hasn’t all been easy, but a side-effect of the pandemic has been valuing the extra family time, while realising that the nest will soon be empty. For the worst of reasons, there has been the opportunity to re-appreciate young adults and their view of the world. In uncertain times, it’s been a useful reminder that the future could be in good hands, in a generation where the ‘unprecedented’ is what they know…
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