Lockdown and me

by Phil Tunstall

At the time of writing we are in the fourth week of self isolation and like most people we’ve had to make a few adjustments, one of the hardest things to come to terms with being the ban on close contact with family and friends. As well as not being able to meet up with friends, all services and meetings in church and the centre have been cancelled as has meeting up for Bible study, another strange phenomenon.

There have been plenty of other things to get used to, for example, not being able to help anyone out during the lockdown has been hard for me, as has relying on someone to do our shopping. We are fortunate to have two lovely people doing ours, but I still miss it, I like food shopping, believe it or not, I take after my Grandmother who always had a pantry full of essentials. And gone is keeping an eye on the Centre Diary to see if I need to open, close or set up, though I still find myself glancing at the place on the wall at home where the diary usually hangs.  I’ve also noticed that I don’t look at the calendar (our social diary) so much any more because all the appointments or events that would usually be on there have been cancelled.

But on the flip side of that, I now have time to do the jobs I want to do (as well as the ones I don’t want to do!!) and I can take my time, instead of trying to fit everything in to a spare half hour. So, like a lot of people, the car is spotless inside and out, the garden is tidy (wish I could say “weed free”) those neglected areas are no longer neglected and ‘put off’ decorating is now up to date.

We’re the fortunate ones though, we have a house with enough room to ‘social distance’ should we want to, a lovely garden for fresh air and relaxation, access to open spaces and we’re able to take a stroll from our front door and easily avoid close contact with people, and we have the equipment

 to keep in touch with friends and family including access to the wonderful weekly church services, which, at a time when it’s hard to tell what day it is, have ​made Sundays feel, well, like a Sunday should.

I’ll be glad to get back to normal, whenever that happens, but I’ll miss the lazy get ups and the slower pace of life.