Emma is taking an online touch typing course offered by the BBC. Yesterday, as she was practicing, this sentence cropped up:
.....which pretty much sums up what's been going on at 12 Green's Road for the past few days.
This weekend was hard, in large part because our time, spent indoors except for an hour outside on Saturday, was unstructured. Both Saturday and Sunday are a bit of a blur; I can't really tell you what we did. I do recall that on Sunday I was exhausted and spent part of the day in bed (and the rest of the day feeling sorry for myself). We ordered take-out from a Thai restaurant. That's about all I can recall. Next weekend we will have to do things differently.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping for the first time in awhile. Normally I shop daily. I hadn't realized until this whole quarantine thing started how much daily marketing took up my time and formed part of the structure of each day. Of course I am still going to and from the store(s) by bicycle, which makes shopping for several days' worth of food a real challenge. I managed to carry five bags of groceries home from Tesco yesterday afternoon. I was pretty proud of myself. (Yes, I disinfected the countertop when I had unloaded everything).
I got almost everything on my list, except for yeast (and there is still no flour; I don't know what people are doing with it all). I had to queue to get in the store and to check out. It was not a particularly pleasant shopping trip. That weird, nervous energy that is present out in the world is a little unnerving.
Yesterday (Monday) was better, as Emma worked on various school things, we completed a puzzle of the solar system, and went for a walk after dinner. It is quite bizarre to see Cambridge without any people. Normally it has the busiest town centre I've ever seen; people are always, always out and about, even in the middle of the day. Now it's quiet -- too quiet -- and there are only a few lonely souls cycling or taking a quick walk.
Trinity Street, above, is one of the main streets in town and is normally filled with tourists outside of Trinity College, which is just hidden on the right.
Above is King's College, one of the most famous tourist spots in the city. Earlier this year we went to hear the famous boys' choir at an Evensong service and at a classical music concert. I am glad we did these things before March happened.
One final thing I've been thinking about over the past week is the slogan on Boris Johnson's podium.
The fact that the podium even *has* a slogan is very English. (Keep Calm and Carry On, anyone?).
But what has really struck me is how proprietary the English are about the National Health Service. They refer to it as "our NHS," which makes good sense since everyone not only uses it, but pays into it to keep it afloat. And note that the slogan asks you to "stay home" to protect not yourself or others, but the NHS. I won't continue unpacking Boris Johnson's slogan of of choice, but suffice it to say I find the whole thing pretty interesting.
.....which pretty much sums up what's been going on at 12 Green's Road for the past few days.
This weekend was hard, in large part because our time, spent indoors except for an hour outside on Saturday, was unstructured. Both Saturday and Sunday are a bit of a blur; I can't really tell you what we did. I do recall that on Sunday I was exhausted and spent part of the day in bed (and the rest of the day feeling sorry for myself). We ordered take-out from a Thai restaurant. That's about all I can recall. Next weekend we will have to do things differently.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping for the first time in awhile. Normally I shop daily. I hadn't realized until this whole quarantine thing started how much daily marketing took up my time and formed part of the structure of each day. Of course I am still going to and from the store(s) by bicycle, which makes shopping for several days' worth of food a real challenge. I managed to carry five bags of groceries home from Tesco yesterday afternoon. I was pretty proud of myself. (Yes, I disinfected the countertop when I had unloaded everything).
I got almost everything on my list, except for yeast (and there is still no flour; I don't know what people are doing with it all). I had to queue to get in the store and to check out. It was not a particularly pleasant shopping trip. That weird, nervous energy that is present out in the world is a little unnerving.
Yesterday (Monday) was better, as Emma worked on various school things, we completed a puzzle of the solar system, and went for a walk after dinner. It is quite bizarre to see Cambridge without any people. Normally it has the busiest town centre I've ever seen; people are always, always out and about, even in the middle of the day. Now it's quiet -- too quiet -- and there are only a few lonely souls cycling or taking a quick walk.
Trinity Street, above, is one of the main streets in town and is normally filled with tourists outside of Trinity College, which is just hidden on the right.
Above is King's College, one of the most famous tourist spots in the city. Earlier this year we went to hear the famous boys' choir at an Evensong service and at a classical music concert. I am glad we did these things before March happened.
One final thing I've been thinking about over the past week is the slogan on Boris Johnson's podium.
The fact that the podium even *has* a slogan is very English. (Keep Calm and Carry On, anyone?).
But what has really struck me is how proprietary the English are about the National Health Service. They refer to it as "our NHS," which makes good sense since everyone not only uses it, but pays into it to keep it afloat. And note that the slogan asks you to "stay home" to protect not yourself or others, but the NHS. I won't continue unpacking Boris Johnson's slogan of of choice, but suffice it to say I find the whole thing pretty interesting.
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