Day 50 - SkyLines from the French Lock-down: The New Normal

Bonjour a tous! (Hello Everyone!) It's late as I write this because we have been out and about today. It's still a few days until the end of lock-down but we'd completely used up our stocks that can't be bought in the nearby store. It was time to go to the big Supermarket. I wore my new mask. We washed our hands when we got there and wiped down the cart handles with sanitizer dispensed at the entry.  We were careful to keep at a safe distance from others, but at least it is now accepted that couples and families can be together. It was a practice run for the "new normal." 

Our agricultural villages need workers in the orchards and fields.

Day 50 - We woke with the sun and it was warm - a  perfectly normal morning in May. At breakfast we looked over the list of food and supplies we planned to pick up at the giant supermarket. Y, my French partner, said, "Et nous pouvons même prendre nos vélos." (And we

A popular art form here that
looks really pretty in the sun.

can even take our bikes!) My obvious lack of unbridled enthusiasm went unnoticed as he continued to read the news on his phone. "Pas aussi bon qu' hier," (Not as good as yesterday), he remarked and handed me his phone with the lists of covid-19 statistics. I looked over the deaths and new cases from the day before. Rats. Although not high, there were a lot more than yesterday. It gives me a chill, I can tell you. Macron has told us that we won't really know until May 7 how the de-confinement will roll out. There will be numbers that are acceptable and those that aren't. Like you, we are praying to never do this again!

The morning was beautiful, so I sat on the terrace and played guitar for a while. I thought we would shop before lunch but I was wrong. This I discovered when Y objected to my proposal that we leave soon. "Oh non, je préfère de manger avant." (You guessed it  - eat before...) I said okay but we must not be late getting back. For just a moment I thought about saying I would take my car.

Macron warns us it will be done in little steps

But then I reflected on the fact that not only was it good for our budget, it was good for my health. And it's only a mile to the store. Don't tell me I should walk! How would I get the groceries home? Okay, Y could bring them home, but really, the bike is less bad than walking. And besides it would take me the whole day to get there and back. I'm not much of a walking person. My feet would hurt for days. So, we fixed lunch, watched the news, ate, had the after meal coffee and then prepared the bikes.  Somehow it was already after four in the afternoon before we were ready to go! I will admit that lunch wasn't ready until after one o'clock. But it was yummy.

Y has a little wagon he pulls behind his bike. Last year it took our

The wagon is ready to go!

surfing gear to the beach and back. This year, it is likely that won't be happening. During the winter, he has used it for the groceries. No, I'm still not walking to the big supermarket! I'd never get around to writing this to you if I did that. I will admit that it was lovely to cycle to the store. There were flowers blooming along side of the bike path but the mask I wore meant I couldn't smell them. That's okay. I decided that even though it was not obligatory, I would try out the mask now, before Monday gets here. You know what? It wasn't bad. 

We shopped. Lots of folks were wearing masks and there were many more plastic barriers along the edge of the cashier's area to keep people in the different checkout lanes from breathing on each other. Seems like a good idea to me. This is the face of life and will be the new normal way of shopping. Y payed by card so there would be no contact then we took our groceries to the little wagon parked out front. While Y packed everything neatly, I watched two lizards hunting in the rocks by the parking lot. One watched a small fly zipping around above the rocks and then, ZAP! I blinked at the speed with which its tongue had shot out and caught the prey. Wow. I'd never seen it happen. The second lizard watched and probably wished it was his supper. The play of life and death goes on even as we are trying to do our best to slow down the numbers of humans who fall ill. 

My new normal fashion accessory!

Most of the time, like the fly, we don't see the danger coming for us. This epidemic has made us aware of an invisible enemy that hangs in the air now. I wore my mask home. If it will help others, that's good. And hopefully by setting the example for others, they will help keep me safe too. I'm still working on getting Y to wear his mask. He says he will when it is the rule. And that is partly why we have to have rules. I know he believes he's invincible. How I wish that was true. I wish we all were.

And so now we must stop and eat dinner. While I've been writing, he has prepared the soup and our Mediterranean veggies to serve on rice. It's been another beautiful day. I hope you've had a good day too. And if it's been hard, hang in there. It's going to be a long time before life becomes anything like

The fly never even sees the lizards waiting for it.

normal. For the moment, be brave. I'm feeling just the same as we try to adjust to the "new normal." If we can all keep ourselves and others safe, one day we'll look back and know why we had to do this. 
A demain mes amis! (Until tomorrow, my friends!)

Link to Day 51