We were woken just before 5 am this morning (Saturday) to the sound of thunder. It lasted right up until 9 am before moving out across the North Sea. I haven’t heard thunder claps like it in quite some time. There wasn’t much lightening (at least not to be seen), because there was a mist over the whole area at the time which no doubt hid the lightening flashes to a greater degree.
During the storm, the heavens opened and we had torrential rainfall. At the moment (1.15 pm), the mist has risen and the sun is trying to break through the clouds; it’s a little cooler but still feels very moist and wet outside. I’ve got a thumper of headache, but that’s not unusual—I always seem to get a bad headache either before, during or after a thunder storm. Something to do with air pressure apparently.
Do you find these current times still feel strange? To be honest, three months on and I’m still struggling with how ‘weird’ things seems most days.
It feels like the carefree world we once knew has been disconnected and we’ve been plugged into a different world—one where we need to be vigilant and watch out for an invisible enemy.
This virus is in effect “an attack on all humanity;” there is no other way to look at it; the whole world is laid vulnerable. I believe it was Nicola Sturgeon who said, “things should not feel ‘normal’ during lock down” and she was right; things definitely do not feel normal!
It’s been 12 weeks since lock down took effect on 23rd March 2020. Can you believe it’s been all this time? It feels like the hours have melted into days, and the days into weeks and months! Hubby and myself couldn’t make up our minds if it was Monday or Tuesday today! Turns out it’s Tuesday, 16th June. It ‘feels like’ a Saturday for some reason—goodness, no wonder I’m confused!
On Sunday afternoon, hubby and myself packed a picnic basket and headed out into the countryside. It was misty and even drizzly at times, but it was quietly comforting being inside the warmth of the car enjoying the scenery in passing after not having taken a trip like this in so long.
We kept well within the required ‘local’ vicinity (i.e. a 5 mile radius of home) but even so it seemed like another world! I couldn’t fathom if this was because we hadn’t been into the countryside for a good long while or because the weather seemed to drape the old familiar in a protective misty blanket making it take on a totally different appearance and atmosphere—perhaps it was a little bit of both.
Don’t be afraid to go into the mist—be excited because you don’t know where you will end up.
—Sophie Madden
The countryside was so incredibly ‘quiet’ and ‘still’ and in a way it felt as if we’d stepped back in time to when there was much less traffic and noise on the roads and everyone walked or cycled from village to village. It was nice to get a ‘glimpse of a kind’ into what life may have been like years ago (before most people could afford a motor vehicle)…. and I believe I could definitely get used to it—the peace and quiet side of such anyway!
I was reminded of a saying that has been repeated in various places over the past few months and one which has stuck in my mind since hearing it:
In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.
—Dave Hollis
So many of us have tasted a more relaxed and much simpler pace of life in recent months and it’s going to be difficult adapting back to the ‘norm’ we once knew—if such is even possible that is—but perhaps like the above quote by Dave Hollis suggests, we can be a bit more careful about what we choose to include in our new ‘norm’ and what we can leave behind with the old now that we have tasted the difference.
There’s leaves and lots of small branches scattered all across the back garden this morning—a calling card left behind by the high wind which blew inland from across the North Sea last night. After opening the kitchen windows, it’s even more apparent that there’ll be no morning cuppa in the garden…. it’sjust too cold outside!Not the best start to the day, but at least it’s not raining—yet! The forecast predicts rain and high winds late this afternoon…. and it’s forecast to continue for a few days at least.
I love to wander in nature along with my camera and absorb the scenery around me. I like to take my time to look—I mean “really look” at the beauty that often goes unnoticed when we are busy and don’t (or can’t) take the time to slow down.
If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. — Vincent Van Gogh
We are still in lock down here on the NE coast of Scotland, but as of Friday, 29th May lock down is set to be eased a little for the first time since the 23rd March.
We used to tune in to the TV to listen to the results of the “X-Factor” each weekend, but now it’s been replaced by the “R-Factor” (i.e. the rate at which Covid-19 is spreading) plus a very different set of results!Continue reading “Week 8 – lock down in 823 words”→
