Lockdown Day 5

Today is Saturday, March 14, 2020. On Saturday mornings in Barga you

usually find throngs of genial outdoor market goers, and the

supermarket full of happy shoppers laughing and chatting away to

friends, relatives, strangers, and possibly even enemies, alike. It's

a day at the Fair.

Today, on this cool, overcast but bright spring morning, as I headed 

for the supermarket, the streets were almost empty.

A few utility and service vehicles rattled by. When I approached the

store and blinked away the glare my heart sank to see that there was 

indeed a line to enter. It wasn't long, maybe a dozen people, 10 to 15 

minutes wait. It was too demoralizing to take a photo. 

The people were unusually calm and quiet but, as always, 

pleasant and polite. We smiled and shrugged to 

one another. What else is there to do? We said silently. The

supermarket was in its normal orderly state except for taped lines of

demarcation, stand here, maintain the distance, they read, the clerks,

even more of their usual pleasant, patient selves. I returned through

still almost empty streets.

For the last few days I've been mostly inside reading, drawing,

staring out the window at my beautiful view and feeling fortunate but

a little sad. Although accustomed to a solitary existence, this is

different, but it also has the heartening effect that at least I know

I'm not missing anything out there.

Everything is in slomo. I make nice meals patiently, and enjoy them

slowly. There's absolutely no rush to do anything. Now would be a good

time to tackle spring cleaning. But even that can wait a little as

this is going to be the situation for at least a couple of weeks and I

can put that on the list of things to do and work through it slowly

and thoroughly. I cut and put together a wedding dress commission

which will not happen as scheduled but will happen eventually.

I'm enjoying my usual habit of taking what I call wild romps through

the internet, clicking from link to link in an effort to follow a

research thread. The latest was the word shrive, which came up in my

now third reading of Ulysses. Why not, I have nothing but time.

Baths are my favorite indulgence and I can enjoy them with abandon and

add to that going braless and wearing sweat pants with impunity. I

ain't goin nowhere, and no one’s coming to visit.  In considering some 

online purchases I thought of a choice between buying books or 

a vibrator. Books won.

Keeping to an orderly schedule, going for a solitary walk, thinking

long and hard. The weather is helping, trees are blooming pink, 

as spring has crept up on us almost imperceptibly because we had 

no winter to speak of and we weren't anxiously looking around every

corner for its arrival.

There is none of the usual clatter of cars passing or buses honking 

down on the main road or delightful chatter going on below outside 

my window. All I hear are the birds.