Sinking to New Depths

You know it is wretched when I’m contemplating painting my toenails.

Why?

Being retired, painting my nails is a task that holds little importance. A very low priority. Especially given it’s winter! Those unpainted keratinous coverings are well and truly hidden in the comfy warmth of deep, fluffy socks for another month or two.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

By the way, don’t you just love the featherlike, downy feeling of putting on new socks? Sinking your tootsies into that bouncy, cushioned puffiness. It is a panacea for tired, aching feet. Yet after a few washes in the laundry, the socks become more like – meh! What’s the fuss? It is all about perspective, yeah? But until then, it is bliss.

I digress.

Why am I thinking about painting my toenails?

I really don’t know. It is a totally mindless waste of time.

Although there is one reason:

My apparent decline into a vortex of mental enfeeblement that happens in Covid-imposed isolation, having tested positive on a rapid antigen test.

Yeah – after two years, Corona has finally ensnared me in its dirty little grip. Testing positive, in Australia, means isolating yourself from all others, for seven days in your home.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

I admit to feeling scared, at first. Not about isolating, itself, but of the potential complications of the disease, as I am in a vulnerable cohort. Then I thought of the bonuses isolation might bring me:

– I planned to catch up on all my writing and reading tasks, undisturbed by the distractions of life. Especially reading. I don’t seem to get enough time to do that anymore. Trying to read when I retire for the evening invariably leads to me falling asleep way too soon, book in hand, two pages in…Zzzz.

Essentials or Wants?

After the initial shock of getting the diagnosis, I closed myself off in a contained space.

I do have everything I need. A bookshelf full of books, a laptop, a wardrobe chair-drobe for clothes, a TV, comfy lounge that doubles as a bed, a bathroom, water, nibblies and a lovely balcony to get daily doses of Vitamin D – said to be essential for recovery. The internet provides contact with the outside world and if that is absent, I still have my books. What more does a person FUNDAMENTALLY need? Still, it’s quite the change from my slightly sprawling home by the sea and and small yard, with a lake and beach walks nearby. So…..

When push comes to shove, [and Corona is a global shove], what essentials could I, or will I, do without? I really don’t NEED a lot. Extraverts would no doubt disagree, but we all want or aspire to have loads of material things, but don’t really NEED much more than the basics to sustain life.

And here I am contemplating my toenails.

Which brings me to the point of this post. [It does get there].

Isolation.

Effects of Imposed Isolation on Refugee Populations.

It took almost five years for a family who had happily settled in regional Queensland, Australia, to be released from immigration detention after being removed from their country town, when their visa expired. The parents and two small children were placed in an offshore facility, much like a prison. Their children spent their early childhood years in detention at a ridiculous cost to the taxpayer. It could all have been changed with a signature.

The family wanted to make Australia their home. The town of Biloela campaigned endlessly to free the family from detention and return to Biloela. Australians wanted them to stay so much it became an election issue in 2022!

How on earth could any politician think keeping children in detention was making the world a better place?

Bosnian Immigration to Australia

In the aftermath of the Bosnian war, a refugee family was raising their young boy within the confines of a refugee camp in Denmark. At that time, the Danish authorities did not permit the refugees to work. They were stuck, without a future. Sitting around with nothing to do easily destroys the soul. The family’s child was growing up in an environment, unlike any other home.

Unhappy, the family started applying for any country who might accept them as immigrants. Australia was the first to open its doors and that little boy grew up to become my son’s friend at school. The family had settled thousands of miles from any other family member, but they valued their new life. In time, they found work, careers and purchased a house of their own. Their children, now grown, have careers and more importantly, a future. They have contributed to our community, to our economy and they have become Bosnian-Australians!

This is the Australia to be proud of! One that is welcoming of families.

Refugees that await bureaucratic decisions upon which their future is utterly dependent are stuck. And if being stuck in the comforts of my own home are to send me a little bit ga-ga, after a few days, then it is little wonder that inmates in detention facilities, of all kinds, tend to struggle and self-harm.

Self-harm rates for asylum seekers in all types of closed immigration detention were many times higher than rates found in the general population. Average rates were not lower in facilities with lower security features. bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com

There is no known treatment for self-harm, other than releasing the sufferer from detention!

I have decided not to paint my toenails.

I have a freedom day ahead of me.

Many others do not.

Wisdom and New Year Beginnings -2022

As tempting as it is to recount the highlights of 2021 and the relative freedom we enjoyed in most of Australia; to do that now in the midst of the opening of the Covid floodgates that are occurring, this minute in our country, seems unfeeling and irrelevant.

Australia was lucky – we had our bubble and now we are largely vaccinated, the bubble has burst. It had to happen, but now Australia is about to face what the rest of the world has been experiencing.

Australia’s New Year with Covid-19

Unfortunately, this is another monumental mismanagement fail by a slothful Government. Not enough testing kits, not enough boosters, long testing queues, people turned away from testing clinics, differing state rules.

The question is how long before we return to a normal, again?

Is there a normal to return to?

Blogosphere Brains Trust – Is this what you asked yourself in the past year or so?

As so often holds true, I find comfort in the old wisdoms – the proverbs of older times and their resilience and fortitude. In this case, a Norwegian sage told us:

This can’t go on…

So we continue to look for the silver lining.

Life is Normal Down Under

Australia has been likened to Nazi Germany! Is it true? As an Australian, you’d have to question the rationale of such a comparison. Yet this is the power of media to sway opinion and spread propaganda and fear across the world.

Decide for yourself: Here’s a snapshot of my life in Australia Nazi Germany:

• This morning I walked my dog.
• Yesterday I attended a craft group, went to the shops and library, had coffee with and visited with a friend, used the internet and had a tradesmen call.
• Last week I went on holiday – 3 hours drive away from home, stayed in a cottage enjoying wine tastings, a degustation meal and visiting local spots and tourist attractions. The townspeople spoke about how many tourists had visited and how business in the town had never been better!
• Two weeks ago, I was in the city to conduct some business – I saw no protests nor any old ladies being beaten by police.
• Masks are not mandated at the moment, as the state currently has no Covid cases.
• I am double-jabbed.

Sounding pretty normal to you?

It is.

Suburban Aussie normality.

Yet according to media reports overseas, my life here in Australia is anything but normal and police are arresting people in the streets!

One WordPress blogger wrote that “things were so crap down under.”

As she lived outside Australia, I was surprised at her comment. So I asked her in what way was it crap, as life in Australia seemed pretty normal to me? This is her response:

“Life is NOT normal at all down under. Australia has one of the toughest lockdown policies in the world. People are being arrested for going outside and walking their dogs. They are forcing people into “camps” if they are unvaccinated. People are being beaten and pepper sprayed from the cops if they are not wearing their masks. it is like NAZI Germany, and Australia is supposed to be a free country. It’s just sickening what’s going on down there.”

WordPress Blogger

Left: Life in Australia Right: Auschwitz

If this was true of my country, I must be deluded, and the Nazi henchmen poised to arrest me when walking my dog are clearly using a cloaking device.

I’m blissfully unaware of any Nazi-like practices by the Government, (although I would agree with the blogger that my Government is a bit crazy – but that is more in regard to their retrograde climate denial policies than anything else).

International borders to Australia are open in some parts, with more to come when vaccination rates rise further in coming weeks. Australians have dragged their tails in getting immunised, due to fewer Covid cases and a Government that was sluggish in ordering stocks of appropriate vaccines.

Social and monopoly media do tend to replay sensationalist news-worthy segments across many media channels to attract revenue. The videos were seen multiple times on different sources and from various angles with the resulting tendency of the viewer and our brains to generalise and think it’s happening everywhere, every day, in the whole country. Everywhere across Australia, a country so vast it takes a week to cross it by train. As with floods and fires, it is also with protests. They usually only affect a small part and a small minority.

More worrisome is the media reports and videos that may sway opinion so much that readers think they’ve a better handle on life in my world, than me living in it. The power of video!

Having said that, I don’t totally blame the blogger for reacting with fear, because this is what she believes to be true. This is the influence of the media, and it’s more like propaganda than reality.

I responded to the blogger thus:

The power of the media to influence perceptions overseas is amazing as it is nothing as you describe, as I am Australian and I live here. Although in one state there have been a few ugly protests mainly involving right wing activists, which have been highlighted in the media, it is nowhere near the Nazi Germany that you describe. The videos you have seen have unfortunately led to people thinking the worst. And this is an example of the power of propaganda! That is where the media is acting like Nazi Germany, and you and lots of others can only go by what you see. I don’t blame you for thinking this way, but it is incorrect.

Forestwood StPA

As Australia moves forward, the unvaccinated population may not be totally free to attend public venues, but they won’t be forced into any Nazi-like camp!

It is a person’s right to not be vaccinated, but is it not also the Government’s right to protect as many people as it can, in the public space? Isn’t that why we have a police force? To protect public spaces from danger, or nefarious individuals?

Shouldn’t it also then be my right as a HIGH-RISK person not to be unknowingly placed in a dangerous situation, if I choose to attend a public space, especially given the lengthy contagious incubation phase of a virus before obvious symptoms manifest? [The emphasis on being aware and knowing who may be unvaccinated and a potential carrier is important to me].

It is not rocket science.

We all comply with certain codes of behaviour to keep our society safe. Is this so vastly different?

What are your thoughts?

Have you seen some dire reports of our life down under?

What is your take on them?

REKO – Covid safe drive through food

By the time the humble spud or apple reaches your supermarket shelf from its trek from the farm, it could be up to three weeks old, due to storage times: days waiting for freighting in trucks, sitting in the open air at wholesale markets, transportation to distribution centres and then to individual supermarkets. Then, there is the shelf time waiting until the customer selects it, for purchase.

It doesn’t help the consumer or the farmer.

We have come to expect produce to be available year-round, but this comes at a cost in terms of nutritional content and quality. Some fruits that grow naturally in warmer/colder climates have been genetically modified to lengthen their growing season. In the 1970-‘s, a range of foods were genetically modified to ensure they had a longer shelf life or to make fresh crops more resistant to pesticide attack in the non-optimal growing months. Food quality has changed.

As we all know fresh is best, how can the fresh food supply chain be compressed, so that produce reaches us sooner and in better condition?

Alternatives to the Supermarket

A farmer-led online co-operative company called Food Connect was one way I sourced fresh produce sooner than the tired offerings at my supermarket. This company guaranteed to get fruit and veg to your point of collection from the farm within three days.

The range is limited to seasonal produce, (which is the way it should be), so the boxes had a set selection of products. Customized boxes cost the customer a lot more and were supply dependent.

But now there is another alternative.

What is REKO?

Reko is an online farmers market where the supply chain involves the farmer or producers selling directly to the customer with zero wastage and minimal delays in the transportation of goods.

This concept originated in Scandinavia, by a Finnish gentleman and has now grown to more than 500 local groups in Scandinavia, Canada and North America.

The reach and success of online farmers markets, such as the Reko model, have been made possible by technology. A positive is that Covid has helped this model flourish. Plus it supports your local growers!

The Reko model means more time available to farmers tend and develop farm animals/produce – a job that is always 7 days a week.

How Reko Online Farmers Markets work

Customers read the Reko Facebook group posts for their area, each week on social media to see what each farmer or supplier is offering.

If there is something that appeals, the customer orders by posting a comment, indicating the quantities they’d like, send through the payment via direct bank deposit, (ie no credit card fees), and collects the produce at the nominated time and pick up point. Voila!

Straight from the farm to your fridge all within 24 hours.

Reko offers more than just fruit and vegetables.

A home gardener who has excess produce may sell via the REKO group and if you are selling cakes or prepared meals, you must have a commercial-style kitchen. When we grew zucchinis in our home garden, we planted so many plants we could have fed an army, so REKO would have been a way to share our products and make a little money to be able to buy more seeds! If only it had been possible back then.

Advantages of Online Vegetable and Produce Ordering

• A way to stay Covid safe in a variant outbreak!
• Pick up from your car appeals too!
• Local growers supporting local community
• Hand made or home grown sold by person growing it
• A supply chain model that makes food or products available as fresh as is humanly possible
• Farmers get cash directly and there is no excess wastage of product

Less wastage = lower prices + a better environmental outcome.

Costs are reduced as farmers don’t need to spend time away from their farm, spending hours in the hot sun/cold rain setting up and sitting at an outdoor market, or selling to wholesale distributors, or fiddling with cash and change. There’s less wastage as they don’t take more product to sell than is required, as the grower in the youtube video explains.

Why is it different from a farmers market?

• No sitting out in the rain
• Farmers only harvest as much as has been ordered
• Less transport time and fossil fuel emissions
• No signage, change, Point of sale machine, tent or tables needed as pick up is direct from the farmers car boot or truck
• Farmer received the money directly – keeping costs down and cash flow is instant
• Supports local growers
• Minimal effort to source

Father’s day Covid Jab #1

I could have been anyone with access to my name and date of birth which the clinic happened to have entered incorrectly. No ID or Medicare card check was requested; I just walked in, gave my name, waited in the queue, then had the jab.

“22nd August 2005,” some family member screamed out to a young man waiting in the queue. Who doesn’t know their own birth date, I wonder?

Despite the increasing crowd of 50 or more, I noted that only myself and one other person checked into the medical centre, via the Covid contact tracing app!

The nurse’s technique was textbook, yet her initial screening questions were vague. “Any serious conditions?” she asked in a lovely African accent. I could have done a tad better job at the questions, even with my outdated medical knowledge. Perhaps the Covid jab training is somewhat abridged?

Sheep-like, I followed the arrows on the path to an external waiting area, read: car park. A car park for people, one without patient engagement or monitoring, save by two attendants up front that were not in my direct line of sight chatting to each other.

I decided to set my own timer for 15 minutes lest I be sitting there all day.

I noted that there were no list of side effects handed out, either. (Perhaps it was an environmental initiative and they were trying to save the trees?) I had to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I’ve heard of better organization at the Government health hubs, so bearing in mind this was a private seven-day medical clinic, I’d have to say the efficiency of numbers through the door was the paramount driver in this facility.

Given Australia is in a race against time in terms of Covid, atm, the Government presumably thinks it is imperative to get as many folks jabbed as possible. Not that I disagree with that. For them, it is about image not health.

With the Corona Delta variant raging down south, unchecked by casual restrictions of an economics-only minded government that sings the mantra of, “we now have to learn to live with Covid,” – I prefer to be jabbed asap.

Once again I observe that I am still not in the line of sight of the attendants. If I fainted or fell asleep on my chair, would anyone notice?

In the time it has taken me to write up this post on my phone,  I calculated I am now free to leave – by my own measurement. Not a clock in sight. 15 minutes are up according to the timer on my watch.

I am off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. It is Father’s Day here.

I hope you enjoy yours too.

I was only just saying….

Sometimes a word or two can spark an outrage or can offer comfort. Other times words might even be prophetic.

Unfortunately, it seems the later is the case. I write about Australia’s Covid-free bubble and cautioned that we shouldn’t become too complacent and forget hygiene measures.

At New Year’s Eve, I noticed people were fast getting a too cocky with life, resuming normal practices like hugging and kissing, even though there were still a few isolated Covid cases in a few states, including ours. All cases were in hotel quarantine and out of public access, until now. Then:

Credit: Facebook meme

New Covid Outbreak in Queensland, Australia

A cleaner in hotel quarantine has come down with the highly infectious UK strain of the virus. The cleaner was catching public transport for a week prior to detection.

The region is now in lockdown from 6pm tonight and masks are mandatory. [You might remember I was prevented from wearing masks, last year in my workplace].

The announcement came at 8.30 am today, but at 8.20 am people were already out and about panic buying.

Toilet paper supplies, I suspect.

Credit: giphy

The lockdown is only until Monday morning, but they suspect it could last a week.

Has the public forgotten shops were once closed all weekend? Are we not able to survive more than one day without shopping? Are toilet paper supplies that thin? (Excuse the pun).

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

One Covid case; (no new cases today) and wholesale chaos reigns at the stores. Think of the UK – or other states and countries that have been in lockdown for months.

The hotel staff in the quarantine hotels, are now going to be tested daily. I wonder why this wasn’t previously instituted?

Social Distancing in Australia

So much for social distancing, I thought. Notwithstanding our relative safety here in Australia, we are still in the midst of a global pandemic.

Photo by Yaroslav Danylchenko on Pexels.com

We’re allowed to attend social events again and in my state in Australia, we’re even permitted to sing, (something not all states, are allowed to do as yet).

How fortunate are we? Believe me, I do not take this for granted.

Apart from providing our contact details at all venues, society here has, by and large resumed to B.C. levels, [i.e. – before Covid]. Just in time for all that Christmas and New Year’s Eve revelry.

Until now, people were still hesitant to get close to one another. Would social distancing and clean hygiene practices be ditched for the sake of socializing and enjoyment in 2020, now a vaccine was on the horizon?

Being one of the unlucky ones with a respiratory system prone to serious illness, I was more than happy to continue to ‘elbow pump’ people, in the greeting that Covid made fashionable, until the ends of time. Hugging friends had become a thing of the past for me.

The 2020 pandemic, as well as my recent retirement, has meant that I’ve escaped the annual torture of suffering with each year’s strain of ‘Influenza’, as well as various bugs and infections that are an occupational hazard of working, as I did, with young children. 2020 was, for me, far healthier than previous years.

In fact, I’ve not seen a Doctor all year. Yay for me!

Fast forward to this year’s New Years Eve. Much of Australian society is back to normal, except for bans on large gatherings, as in city fireworks displays. *[Mind you, I still can’t fathom why Cricket and football matches in stadiums are exempt from this ban. Is there an invisible force field that protects sports spectators from the pandemic?]

My plan for celebrating 2020 NYE at the Home by the Sea, involved attending a Karaoke Dinner at a local restaurant, with around 8 of my neighbours and friends. Dutifully, all of us scanned in our particulars, using the QR code on the table, upon arrival, for the purposes of contact tracing should anyone come down with the dreaded ‘Corona’ virus. We then looked forward to an evening of singing, good food and company. And it was indeed a fun night.

Yet, my heart did skip a beat as the waiter removed our individual plates after the first course, stating that the rest of the seven courses, would be served from disposable paper boats. Therefore, we should hang on to our cutlery, for the duration of the evening. Share plates of cheese and crackers and dessert had my hygiene radar twerking mildly, as did my wonderment at our used knives and forks scattered ominously across the table between courses.

Was I being a little paranoid about germs?

Singing into the Karaoke microphone, shared with 30 or so other drunken folk, was not encouraging for hygiene either. I couldn’t find a disinfectant wipe for the mic, anywhere on site, although there was plenty of hand sanitiser at the bar, which was well utilised. After my allotted drink or two, I relaxed, as did many others and begun to really enjoy the evening.

Abba, Shania Twain, Queen and Pink tunes were an absolute hoot to sing and really got everyone joining in with gusto. It was as if the floodgates of pent-up social energy had opened, energy they’d been harbouring for much of 2020.

Around Midnight, whilst our table was chinking glasses at a socially approved distance, a recent acquaintance I knew sitting at an adjacent table walked straight over to me, hugged me and without any warning landed a big sloppy, slightly drunken kiss, on my cheek.

“Eek! What if she has Covid?” was my very first thought.

To say the kiss felt strange, was an understatement. Something quite natural a year ago, now felt like a personal violation!

To put this into context, I haven’t kissed anyone other the ‘Moth‘, since the pandemic began! The legacy of Covid means I’ve not even kissed my elderly parents and now, this felt so – weird and wrong! Quickly noticing my shell-shocked response, the lady did offer a swift and heartfelt apology. But the damage was already done. A day later, I had my head perched over the toilet bowl/bucket, throwing up. The usual New Year’s Eve ‘Gastro’ Virus had found me. For many years, it appears regular as clockwork, in that first week of January after the New Year’s Eve parties. Was it the kiss, the unsanitised microphone, or just coincidence? Surely not the alcohol?

The silver lining, I could say was this 24 hour ‘wog,’ helped me lose some of those extra pounds I’d gained over Christmas. However, the dynamics of physical contact with friends has now completely changed in society.

Now recovered and back at the keyboard, I pondered the events as they unfolded. More worrying for me than getting a mild case of ‘gastro,’ was that folks are so quick to abandon safe hygiene practices and social distancing in the name of fun.

As far as the pandemic goes, we are not out of the woods in Australia, yet.

How quickly people forget.

A New Year and Dealing with Intense Emotions

Christmas time may be a source of stress or joy. Compounding those yuletide stresses, the Covid pandemic continues to rage, so there was little cause for joy in many parts of the world.

Marlene inspired me to think of the year’s outcomes in terms of ‘gifts,’ some good and of course, some bad. We’d do well to focus on the better aspects for our own well-being. So, what if any, positives can be noted?

Photo by Ryutaro Tsukata on Pexels.com

Lessons from the Pandemic

Whether we like the lessons or not:

• This awful year has taught us patience and more appreciation for things at home.
• This dreadful year has been a godsend for parts of the environment and animal world.
• The pandemic afforded us time to develop or re-discover DIY home projects.
• This deadly virus has potentially increased family tensions but has given extra time with loved ones. I will take as a blessing option, thanks.
• Rates of family violence and alcohol consumption rose, yet levels of air pollution diminished due to fewer vehicles on the roads. The night sky was/is full of stars hitherto unseen in cities, as air quality improved.
• Peak hour traffic congestion eased and commuter accidents lessened.
• Workplaces were forced to become more flexible, benefitting those caring for someone, at home.
• Money from saved travel and workplace costs, (uniforms, ancillary items, office durables and rentals), could instead be spent on other items that bring joy.
• Extroverts suffered from social isolation but many introverts thrived.

..some Australian online [alcohol], retailers have reported 50% to 500% increases in sales compared to the same period in 2019.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7300689/#dar13092-bib-0018

Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com

Negative Impacts of the Pandemic

This pandemic has uncovered a festering mal-contentment at the interplay between politics and society and offered diametrically opposed opportunities and grief.

Unemployment rose sharply and many lost businesses, their livelihood, or their lives. In some places, political decisions and divisiveness led to civil unrest. Financial ruin became rampant. Mental health nosedived.

For each one of us, the impacts may be very individual. With no short term end to Covid in sight, the heightened emotions the pandemic brings, remain uncomfortable and difficult for many folks to manage.

How do we deal with those difficult emotions?

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Dealing with Difficult Emotions

Write Down Your Thoughts

Sometimes it can be cathartic to transfer those strong emotions into written words. Blogging can be great therapy.

Slow Down and See Each Moment

Ironically, the pandemic has made me feel grateful.

Grateful for things I DO have and it ensured I did slow down and appreciate the individual moments that pass by.

Grateful for our country’s relative safety bubble.

We can be grateful for modern science working hard to solve the virus riddle.

Grateful that I have not been touched by financial ruin, separation or Covid itself.

Grateful that even though my workinglife ended prematurely, I now have time to enjoy retirement activities with the Moth.

Grateful that I have daily incidental conversation with the adult children who came home due to financial reasons.

Grateful that I can let unimportant things slide.

Grateful to have the awareness I am so much more than just my emotions/feelings.

Grateful that emotions and feelings change as the world moves and changes. Everything must change for, just like bad weather, nothing ever lasts.

2021 Mantra

In this New Year of 2021:

If I feel sad, I will sit with that feeling of sadness.

If I feel loss, hurt or rejected, I will accept that feeling, not deny or think that I ‘shouldn’t,’ feel that way.

If I feel frustrated or inadequate, I will sit with that until the feeling passes. I won’t feel tormented that these emotions are wrong or bad, but rather let them ‘slide.’

Let it slide.

Not quite the same ‘sliding,’ as the lyrics of the song suggest, but the personal reminder is contained in that catchy melody; the melody that is today’s earworm.

“Let it Slide.“

Happy New Year