"Merry" Month of May Meme: the new normal

 

 

Geneabuddy Pauleen has challenged us to write about our new normal and provided the following questions.  Why don't you join in too?

Has your day-to-day life returned to how it/you functioned previously?

Absolutely not. Pre-COVID I worked full-time.  Now I am retired.  Very very different.

If your “new normal” is different from your “old normal”, can you share some of the ways it’s changed?

I used to commute for about 2.5 - 3 hours a day and would go through lots of petrol filling the car twice a week.  Now I am filling up my car about every 2-3 weeks.  I would leave home by 6.15 every morning and get home at about 6:30 or quarter to 7.  My weekends were packed with social engagements and I always struggled to stay on top of housework. The only thing that has stayed the same is that I still struggle to stay on top of housework!!  Family history is SOOOO much more interesting.

Do you think these will be long-term changes for you?

Yes

What personal benefits have you gained from the change of pace and experiences in the past two years?

I think I am more relaxed now and more able to be available to my family for things like babysitting or helping care for sick or at risk relatives. If my father gets sick I can drop everything and take him to hospital and sit there for hours and it's not a problem.  The lack of guilt is fabulous.

 

 

Do you think the disadvantages have outweighed the benefits for you and/or family and friends?

No.  But then I am incredibly lucky that this happened at the right time for me.  My heart goes out to young first-time mothers who are adapting to a new more isolated way of life and to those trying to run businesses.

The only disadvantage I feel has been restricted movement, which for someone who likes to travel is a bit of a bug bear.  The furthest I have been away from home has been the Sunshine Coast or Stradbroke Island.

I haven't hugged or touched my father for two years now which is very sad. But at least I get to see him and we've had some lovely meals together and much more relaxed times where we can just chew the fat and I'm not rushing off anywhere.  I can just be.

 

 

What do you value most about your new normal?

Not being so stressed.  Having time to think and breathe and reflect.  Being able to walk my dog in daylight hours rather than strapping a torch to my forehead so I can see where the dog poo is  in the dark.  It's the little things!  I have time to gaze at the trees and soak in the serenity.

 

 

What do you consider have been the main influences: covid infection, restrictions and isolation, other health issues, changing inter-personal interactions?

Hmm...interesting question.    I track the number of COVID infections every day and we are higher on the Johns Hopkins list than ever but the restrictions have been lifted.  I guess people can handle restrictions for only so long and then they start to get antsy.  I should probably wear a mask more than I should but I don't.  I just wear a mask when I have to now e.g medical centre, chemist.  It really affects my ability to breathe/think when I'm at the bridge club, so I don't.  I figure the numbers are so limited at the club and we're all about the same age and vaccinated so we should be pretty safe.  Call me naieve.  About 2 out of 20 people wear masks at the club. 

What is your view of in-person meetings (social or genealogy) and do you love or hate zoom meetings?

I am a very social person so Zoom meetings have been a life saver for me.  I can't usually handle more than one or two a day though.  I find them very draining.  They are not better than in person meetings - just different.  I think they have been a life saver for busy people.  I used to hate having to schlep all the way to the society for a meeting or a workshop.  Now I can do it in the convenience of my own home.  But I worry that the Society's library is not being used as much as it should be.  There has been a huge drop off in numbers and I think people are beginning to question if it is worth the rent we pay for it if no-one uses it.  When I get together for in-person meetings, the connection is much stronger and lots can be picked up in a room just with body language or the roll of an eye.

What was the main activity and/or person that supported you through the unpredictable times?

Walking with my sister-in-law every morning during lockdowns.  That kept me sane.  

 

 

My BFF  who would say "Come and stay and bring your quilt project and we'll work on it together." Her husband is a fab cook and I have noticed that since I stopped work suddenly I seem to be the only one who cooks in the house and it can get a bit draining thinking up something to cook EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.  My husband still goes out to work a couple of hours a day and does the shopping so I really can't complain.  It just gets a bit boring so it's nice when someone else does it for a change.  I'm not a very good self-starter or very confident when it comes to sewing.  I like to do things in groups so a sewing bee is great for motivation when I see what everyone else has been doing.I have been able to do lots of craft and cooking.

My greatest indulgence in lockdown has been learning/playing bridge and I am very grateful to our local club and its very supportive teachers who have encouraged us to enter competitions and tournaments whenever we felt brave enough.  I love the intellectual challenge and it's never dull.  

I must also pay tribute to my dog who has been the most faithful and patient of hounds.  She is my personal trainer, my alarm clock and always nudges me when I have been sitting too long or am feeling a bit glum.  We have lovely cuddles on the couch every night when I want to binge on the latest new series. 

 

 

Podcasts have also got me through walks and dull days.  Too numerous to mention but I am not a girl who likes to exercise so I would be the size of a house - okay a two-storey house - if it was not for them and audio books.  

Oh !!  Did I mention my WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL local library staff who kept bringing in the dozens and dozens of holds that I ordered and kept me in fabulous books for the past two years.

Lots of cuddles from my wonderful grandson and lots of volunteer work for my family history society and National Family History Month has kept me busy and active. I have more time to grow veges and flowers.

 

 
In short, I feel more grounded.

Has your community developed a new normal or just returned to the old one? What differences do you see, if any?

Many people have not come back to the bridge club and will only play online.  

Very few people come into the family history library now.  It just seems to the volunteers and management committee members.  I think we are all out of the habit.  I think local libraries have noticed a huge drop in numbers too.  

I don't shop now unless I absolutely have to and it seems to be a quick in and out process rather than a wander down the aisles.  I think the only ones who wander are those buying for an elderly relative or a friend and don't know where their brands or products are on the shelves.  

I like to think we are all a bit kinder now and more gentle with each other.  I am sad to learn that our local 7/11 shop shut four weeks ago.  I feel really sorry for local business.  It must be so hard to keep going given all the challenges they've faced. We are all enthusiastically supporting our new local bakery - probably to the detriment of my waistline.  

Getting to the doctors or the hospital is not for the faint-hearted. I thought I should book an annual check up with my GP last week but rang the practice for an hour with no answer so I tend to just go to the chemist/clinic for my flu/COVID shots.  I can see that preventative medicine will be suffering a bit of a hammering at the moment.  

Thanks for the meme Pauleen.  It's been good to reflect.