A Real Summer? Thoughts from the Writer's Desk

2020 - What a strange year - the beaches were off limits for a long time

Coucou! Is it Summer Yet?  A long, long time ago - well, the 10th of May 2020 to be precise... In a galaxy far, far away - well, actually at the kitchen table where I write... In a kingdom by the sea - well, a village by the Med - hey! that part's true then!  I wrote my last blog on our 55 days of confinement in France - aka the LockDown as I called it.  We were about to be freed from confinement to the house.

What a heady feeling!  And yes, the 7 months of freedom that followed were wonderful.  But with people on the move again, it was inevitable. The 30th of October 2020, we were re-confined.  A Second LockDown...

It was a horrible feeling... And though less restrictive, I just couldn't blog about it - I felt too bad. I couldn't write, I couldn't read. My interpersonal relationships became minimal. It seemed like the whole world had only one topic and all anyone wanted to do was blame somebody or complain.

It felt like we were cut off 
from everyone

 November, restrictions eased.  Yippee!  Up to 20 km from home for up to 3 hours... But with a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am. I was sick and perhaps it was the virus. I slept for a week. Thank goodness Y was there! The winter was cold and dark. The only bright spark was a curfew amnesty on Christmas Eve so Y and I could celebrate with his family.  New Year's we clinked our glasses at home and hoped for 2021 to be better.

Non. 2021 began as 2020 ended. Borders and stores were closed. The ski stations followed suit and never reopened.  We tried snow-shoeing but the time and distance limits made it difficult. And it got
worse!  In March - 16 departments imposed localized LockDowns & re-confined over over 21 million people...

Then - not an April Fools joke - all non-essential stores and activities shutdown. A Third LockDown!  Despite being allowed to travel up to 10 km and a later curfew, it hardly mattered.  There was nowhere to go and nothing to do. Seriously, walking is not my sport!  

France was Closed for Business

But, hope arrived! May 18th cafes and restaurants could serve outdoors, curfew was pushed back, and stores reopened. (Those that had survived!)  June 9th saw indoor dining. Half the country has had its first vaccination and cases are falling. This week they announced we can go mask-less outdoors as long as we are not in a crowded place. And on June 20 no more curfew!  And it's Summer at last!

So!  Maybe it's going to be
a good summer to write!

 Best of all, I feel well and can write again.  You know what that means!  Hopefully it means I'll show up now and then to write a blog and share with you a better summer than 2020.  Will it be a "real" summer?  Nobody knows for sure.  It won't be like the "before" times, but maybe we'll all feel a little more free.  Hugs? Well, not yet! Ciao for now. Until the next time, dear friends.