Back to Normal...Sort of...
It was confirmed this week that primary school children will be going back to school on 11th May in Switzerland. Restaurants will be also allowed to open, sports can resume and life will slowly go back to normal. Sort of. Travel is still strongly discouraged, understandably.
Looking back over the last couple of months, though, I have to be honest. I have actually enjoyed it. It has been nice to slow down. To reconnect over video with people I haven't seen face-to-face in years. To finally build that raised bed in the garden and plant some lettuce (which has started growing, yaaay!). To go for long, slow walks and challenge the kids with longer and longer bike rides.
To read lots of books. To not have to drive the kids anywhere. To not have to be anywhere at any particular time. I haven't filled my car up with petrol for as long as I can remember. I have learned to actually shop once a week in one shop and not forget half the essentials and have to go back the next day. I've even done exercise every day, something I haven't done for years.
Yes there's also been endless dishwasher emptying, cooking, washing, tidying, laundry...but the positives have definitely outweighed the negatives.
And honestly? I feel a little guilty. We are so privileged to live in the countryside. To have a garden. To live in a country whose government have handled the crisis really rather well. To not be in at-risk jobs. To have the flexibility to just stop working to "home school" the kids. To have two kids that get on relatively well and are able to entertain each other without endangering each other's lives more than once a day. I feel guilty that other people are out risking their lives, or don't have a reasonable, measured and trustworthy government, or don't have the ability to get outside as easily as we do, who have jobs that are at risk or who are already unemployed.
I want to be able to help in some small way at least. And whilst I am delighted that many people around the world have been ordering my books (most likely to keep the dream of travel, escape and exploration alive!) I want those book purchases to help others too. So I am donating all of the profits I make from book sales in April and May to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO.