Variety is the spice of life. Yesterday we turned one way out of the front gate. This morning we turn the other.
The absolute silence is the outstanding memory of this lockdown. Half a dozen vehicles a day , at most, come through the village. They barely intrude on the riot of bird song. It's as though we've been transported back a hundred years.
The post lady arrives wearing a mask. She will be coming three days a week in future. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The German billionaire is working on his motorbike collection. He wanders out for a chat. We stand two metres apart and agree that the weather is perfect. Just like a summers day on Sylt he informs me.
Airbus is cutting back on production. This will be a big blow to the local economy. We're too far from Toulouse for people to commute but it will be a hit for the local restaurants and hotels. The narrowbody production line is to scale back output this week. The widebody plant may follow if there's no sign that business travel is going to recover anytime soon.
Saturday morning Verdi : https://youtu.be/VhF6J_rqYco?t=24
13 comments:
Here I am in Texas US central time and 7 hours behind you but the first comment! I'm awake at midnight so I could snag a time for grocery home delivery. Of course that won't happen for days...oh well.
We get the BBC News Hour each weekday morning, and yesterday they were reporting from Paris at, I believe, the Gare de Lyon with crowds trying to board trains out of the city but being confronted by the police demanding their papers and appropriate reasons for traveling and frequently being turned away from boarding. It sounded like June 1940 all over again.
gar
I think the big problem is people wanting to get away for the Easter holidays. Only now are some folk waking up to the fact that lockdown means they can't get on a train to the coast or go to the mountains to visit their families this holiday season.
Hari OM
Yes, the peace and quiet as a side effect will be long treasured... thought yesterday arvo here in Edinburgh, there seemed to be traffic as normal and it seemed very loud!!! YAM xx
Towards the end of his long life, my father once commented that the biggest difference in the English countryside from when he was a boy in the 1920s was the lack for people working in the fields, trimming the hedges, herding and milking the cattle etc. So although there wouldn't have been the traffic and aeroplane noise, in the days before mechanised agriculture there would have been much more bustle of people going about their work on the farms.
The roads are quiet here in Aberdeen, but not spookily so. There are far more middle aged couples out, rather I think self-consciously 'going for a walk'. And in the park, lots of refugees from the gym obsessively following weird exercise routines.
Cheers, Gail.
This is for SHEILA in Texas. I am in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. We, as well, have the dreaded midnight release time for trying to snag a time for grocery home delivery........already booking 7 to 10 days from now. I have attempted (exactly at midnight) for the past ten days - to no avail. Kind of like trying to be the first fortunate ones to snag highly prized online concert tickets, etc. I don't know what the trick is, but I know that there must be something unknown to most of us. So, I certainly have empathy for SHEILA.
You are so fortunate to still have groceries delivered to your homes. That was one of the first things to stop when the virus hit here (I'm in Spain). We have to either shop for ourselves or find someone to do it for us.
Lovely photos of Sophie . She is looking remarkably happy these days - must be lots of nice (obnoxious) things to find along the way!
Inca and I went out yesterday afternoon for our usual short walk, and for a town on lockdown, it was surprisingly busy. Five dog walkers, two couples out for a stroll (strictly forbidden - by law - here) and someone with an overloaded SUV dropping off furniture beside the bins. It's the first time I've seen so many people out since long before the crisis!
Dogs, I think, rather enjoy having their humans around them 24/7. Sophie has taken our enforced presence as a sign that she should have more walks.
I agree, Sophie does look very satisfied these days. I have never heard of the red sign in the sky of Japan, very interesting. We went out for a walkabout in our neighborhood this evening and I was disappointed to still see pretty large crowds in the bars and restaurants. On the other hand, the Tokyo governor has started presenting an English-language update every day at 6:45 p.m., very factual and helpful - this is pretty radical for Japan, but I suspect she has been watching Andrew Cuomo's press conferences. Maybe this will work to push the national government into doing the necessary. Meanwhile the government has been taking advantage of the distraction to "test" a new flight path from Haneda airport directly over central Tokyo. I guess I grew up on the flight path out of Newark, because the sound of the planes overhead stirs up the strongest childhood memories and I have a hard time not rushing out onto the terrace every five minutes to watch. My kids are very perplexed.
They haven't cut our mail service yet. I am sure that will come. Enjoy the peace.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos. Some peace and quiet is needed sometimes. From where we are the traffic still passes but way less then before. We hope you are all doing well. Have a fantastic rest of your day.
World of Animals
I have been trying for 2 weeks to schedule grocery delivery here in Kansas City with no luck. I tried the midnight times but can't even get in. Guess I will be going to the store with mask and gloves next week.
We are isolating here on our mini farm on a dead end dirt road that ends in a logging road. We are well off the beaten path and were only seeing traffic from the 3 small families who live here along this country bumpkin road. These homes are 50 to 100 feet from the road. The town is small with single family housing of at least 2 acres per home; plenty of walking about room at home. We now have strange walkers with dogs and children in tow....and worse we now have people riding ATVs up and down the road. Not getting exercise but just burning gas and creating noise. Yes, I see how people are upset that their towns are flooded with nonresidents. We still have mail delivery but never had food delivery here. We are working hard at only going out once every 2 weeks for food & rxs, and enjoying our yard. We do not walk our road for fear of endangering our elderly neighbors with COPD! If this sounds whiny I apologize.
Normally, we love to see people visiting our little corner of NH, and we invite the kids to visit our ducks, etc.
Thanks for writing Angus. It helps to hear what others are doing and seeing your lil village. Kisses to Sophie XXX
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