Skip to main content
Last Sunday evening, we watched the Prime Minister deliver a live address on the BBC, outlining his plan to ease lockdown in England. I thought he delivered the address well -- he is a far better speaker than Trump -- but the content was a little muddled and vague in places.

It took reading several news articles to piece together more precisely what the plan to ease lockdown actually is. In a nutshell:

  • Those who can't work from home should now return to work, albeit without using public transportation. This started on Monday. 
  • As of yesterday, there is no time limit now on outdoor activities. Basically we can sunbathe without breaking the law. We are also able to take trips to national parks and beaches, and to play sports such as golf and tennis (but only with family members and with social distancing measures in place). 
  • As of 1 June, if the virus continues to slow, students in pre-K, kindergarten and fifth grade may return to school. Some shops may also re-open.  
  • If the virus continues to retreat, some restaurants and cafes with outdoor space, places of worship, and cinemas (with proper social distancing measures) may open in July. 

The PM also dropped the "Stay at home" slogan and replaced it with the weird and vague "Stay alert" message. No one likes this and no one quite knows what it means. 

So that's it. What does this mean for us? Not a whole lot. We were hoping Emma might go back to school on June 1, but that won't be the case. We are hoping she may go back in mid to late June, if the June 1 opening is successful. 

Horseback riding may start back up for her. This would be fantastic. But we will have to pay for private lessons since she can't ride with people who aren't members of her immediate family. 

The best news is that we can now take car trips further afield.  This weekend we may head to the Cotswolds, which is about two hours away. We would bring our own lunch, take a walk, and drive back. It's a lot of driving for one day, but we are pretty desperate to go somewhere different. 

In other news, here is a photo of Emma with an octagram that she drew and colored. This was a small art project for her unit on the Islamic Golden Age. She and I are both enjoying this unit, although I feel that it could be much richer and more comprehensive. I am doing my best to supplement the school's assignments with some of my own. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Now into Week 8 of lockdown. We are trying to fight the good fight against boredom, anxiety, and fear. Some days are better than others. On weekdays we continue with our daily routine of schoolwork, Zoom calls, arts and crafts, and TV programs (or, for Emma, Youtube videos). There is enough going on that the days feel relatively full. There is also some variability. On Tuesdays Emma and I watch a children's astronomy session on Youtube. This is a live presentation by the Institute of Astronomy Cambridge and it's excellent. On Tuesday afternoons Emma has art club. On Wednesdays she takes an online Minecraft course called "Exploring Ancient Civilizations." On Thursday mornings she has ukulele club. And on Friday afternoons she does a yoga class. Weekends are harder for us, as we ditch the schoolwork and therefore our daily routine. This past Saturday we went for a 12 mile bike ride to Wandlebury Country Park, a place we'd never been before and knew nothing a...
Post a Comment
Read more
The roses have been unbelievably gorgeous this spring. They have really made my life a little bit happier. So today I am just going to post some photos I've taken over the past few weeks. Enjoy. 
Post a Comment
Read more
We spent last week on holiday in Exmoor, a national park located in the south west of England. Exmoor is on the smaller side (267 square miles) and its landscape is a mixture of open moors, woodland, river valleys, and rocky coastline. It's pretty sparsely populated; villages are small, few and far between. It's very green, very hilly, mostly populated by livestock, and generally skipped over by American tourists.  We rented a house for six nights with Richard's colleague, Simon, and his 10-year-old daughter Tia. We stayed in Oare, which is listed as a village, but is really a church surrounded by two or three houses. You can see a photo of our house below.  The Victorian novel (now slightly outmoded)  Lorna Doone  is set in Oare and the surrounding countryside. My bad photo does not do it justice; it really is gorgeous.  This part of England tends to be cool and wet; highs in the summer are only in the mid-60s (Fahrenheit, of course; I've never ...
Post a Comment
Read more