CORONAVIRUS - Adjusting To The New Normal!

I'm just coming to the end of my few days off this week, and after a difficult time last week, I am finally feeling recuperated and ready for the next few days. On Thursday and Friday, as I made my way home from work, I was spat at by a rather dishevelled gentleman, who I have never seen in the local area before. Considering everything that is going on I felt sick to my stomach, at the thought of someone elses saliva on me. Luckily enough, I was able to move my elbow up towards my face, protecting me from the worst of it.

In most cases everyone is pulling together, but there is still an element that wishes to cause stress and anxiety for everyone else, and they succeeded in my case. When I got home from work on Friday I was pretty angry and took my anger out on other people. To be honest I really don't want to be around anyone at the moment, which is good considering we are all in lockdown. It is clear that certain individuals really shouldn't be mixing with the local community in any case and I just wish someone, somewhere would do something to stop the kind of anti-social behaviour, which is a blight on this city!

The Government has been encouraging all of us to get out and enjoy some exercise each day, despite the lockdown we are currently in. This has been an incentive for me to get up and do something I wouldn't usually do. I have never really been a great exerciser, but over the last week I have been out and about for at least an hour a day, getting to know Portsmouth and enjoying some much-needed physical exertion.

On Saturday I walked to Portsmouth historic dockyard, a place I have been many times before, but somewhere I never tire of visiting. The dockyard encompasses everything that makes Portsmouth special, it is after all a Naval city first and foremost and its connection to the sea is everywhere you walk.

Like the majority of the city, the landscape was desolate and empty with barely a soul in sight. I read an article on Saturday praising just how well Portsmouth has done in adhering to the lockdown measures introduced by the Government and it is easy to see why. The roads and parks are empty and people are following the rules unlike many other large towns and cities across the country.

There was understandably an eerie feeling across Portsmouth as I walked around, a sensation I am just not used to. I remember thinking to myself, that I would wake up from this nightmare and suddenly life would be back to normal, but sadly that just wasn't to be. This really is the 'new normal' now and all of us have to get used to living this way, at least for the foreseeable future. The streets may well have been empty, no longer full of voices, but there was a strange calmness, even in the face of a deadly virus!

On Sunday I walked a slightly different route, this time heading to Southsea Common and Clarence Pier. The funfair was a special place for me as a child, where I would go with Mum and Dad or my Grandparents. It looked sad and tired, closed and shut down with hardly anyone about, but it was a reminder that this venue, like so many others, will rise again one day, as all of us get back to the way things were.

Walking down towards the coast, early on a Sunday morning I was amazed by the reaction of those I passed in the street. There were just a few joggers and runners and others taking their daily walk, but everyone was happy to say hello, raise their hand and say good morning. That hasn't happened before, usually others pass you by without a second thought. The community feeling in the country right now is truly humbling, as all of us try to cope with circumstances we have never seen before.

As well as my daily constitutional, I am continuing to cook healthy balanced meals each day. After reading up on Coronavirus, it is clear that a healthy immune system is your best protection against it. I no longer drink or smoke, but do take multi-vitamins and probiotics every day and try to do my best to stay fit and well. Of course, I am overweight, which is a red flag, but I am continuing to lose a few pounds a week as I work towards my personal goals.

On Thursday we did our third non touch toast as a family, celebrating each other at this time. With everything that is going on, it is important to remember those close, even if we can't see each other at the moment.

I have to admit I am finding the social distancing difficult, having not seen my Dad or anyone from my extended family for nearly six weeks now. The loneliness has become so extreme, I have become very insular, in a way I haven't since I was a teenager and that really does worry me. Not only am I beginning to resent people, but I am purposely avoiding conversations.

Depression has also become a growing concern, as I navigate this new, untested way of living. Despite getting out as much as I can, soaking up the early summer sun, I want to get home as quickly as possible, only spending an hour outdoors. The long term effects of this lockdown will be vast and wide for all of us and I hope we all learn to live with our families, friends and neighbours once again when this is all over.

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Today the weather was a little drab and overcast, so I went for a brisk hour walk around the local neighbourhood, something I haven't really done while I have been here. It was truly heart-warming to see nearly every house, celebrating the work of our National Health Service, in fighting Coronavirus. The colourful pictures of rainbows was amazing and an important sign of the times. It did at least allow me to recall happier times, spent with friends and family, before Coronavirus, before the planet turned sour.

Finally, I went for a stroll around the cemetery, which was oddly tranquil in these stressful times. Just to reinforce the COVID era, a funeral was taking place, with just four mourners and everyone wore masks. Nothing is normal any more, the difference is stark, observing the 'new normal' that now envelops all our lives!

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