Lockdown Life

On March 16th I cancelled all my appointments for the rest of the week (because the government wasn't doing it yet so I had to take matters into my own hands) and caught the bus home from Queensferry. Now its 139 days later if I counted right and I haven't been back to Queensferry or even on a bus since then. The furthest I've been is Corstorphine Hill which we walked the five miles to and then back. 

Stuff started to get cancelled pretty immediately after I got home that day in March the UK went into lockdown. At first it was like you can go out for groceries once/week and for exercise once/day. Now we're in Phase 3 of easing restrictions which means shops and restaurants and museums can open with safety measures in place. You can sit outside and be out of your house for any amount of time and even meet up to 15 other people from five different households (physically distanced) and travel too.

We sort of all know the phases of lockdown we collectively went through--the Tiger King and Zoom happy hour phase, the social justice phase, and now the full on summer phase (virus be damned). But honestly my life has looked pretty much the same the whole time. Its just a difference of like what YouTube channel or other random subject was I obsessed with at the time? (Food or home decor? The Last Dance or the enneagram?) Which kind of exercise was I into? (Strength training on Zoom + my yoga app? Or hill runs with Craig and 10k training?) For Craig it was more like was he desperately wanting to play golf or desperately trying to squeeze in as many rounds, and courses, and competitions as possible?

We've walked around the Meadows more times than I can count and finally explored Braid Hills and Corstorphine Hill for the first time. We also went through a New Town walks phase there for a while and returned to the Botanics when it reopened this summer. Our long-time favorite Holyrood park was way too crowded the first time we walked it in lockdown but now I sometimes run there in the mornings and its nice to be back. 

I've seen one set of friends in person but that probably says as much about who I was pre-lockdown as anything. We've been apathetic at times but mostly stayed slow and steady? I got re-motivated to get connected to community activism. I binge-read all June. We bought masks and better chairs and a giant hydroflask with a straw lid and wireless headphones. We've purchased so many books and so much beer and loads of pizza from local businesses. We actually had a very nice 10th anniversary reminiscing and talking and walking. I mostly ignored any grief about things cancelled and at some point I guess I adjusted to not planning and not traveling and not eating out for months and months. 

Obviously we are really lucky though that we can do our jobs from home and are getting paid as usual. Dropping after school club for VIPKID in January was the best decision ever. My church job even got renewed for two more years. I like that my days have a lot of flexibility right now but I've also established a predictable rhythm. And I have to say, if I'm going to be stuck in any five mile stretch for five months time, there's no where else I'd rather be.