"Spain relaxes lockdown..." say the international papers.
Have we?
Gosh, that
sounds nice. We still can't go outside for a walk, though. More importantly, I still can't walk
the toddler. I see people in the UK posting pictures of lush green parks and river
scenes and I think, Whaaat? Lockdown is easy
if you can go out for walks! But I
know it's not easy. I know mostly families are cooped up. Some more cooped than
others.
I was reading an article in El Pais about entire families confined to a bedroom. A mother with a 2 and a 4
year old in a bedroom for thirty days. A mother, father, and two preteen kids
sharing one room with a bunk bed. It made me cry. The worst bit is that even after
lockdown they will still be living in one bedroom...
Meanwhile, all across the island there are luxury villas lying empty, because we live in a painfully unequal world. Possibly the construction workers allowed back
to work today, despite uncertainty about how on earth they'll keep a coronavirus safety distance between them, are building more fabulous dwellings for people who may or may not spend any time in them.
Never mind about
the rich. How much would I sacrifice for a more equal world? Would I give up my
terrace during lockdown for another family? I like to think so. In the end, we can't expect people to do what we wouldn't. We all have
to take some responsibility for the world we live in.
Do I sound grumpy? I probably need to be walked more often. In fact I did go out
today. My second outing in four weeks. I went to the chemist. I saw three
police cars in the space of three minutes. The chemist was closed, so I walked back worried that I would be
stopped and I would have no receipt to prove my visit.
The highlight of
my day came in the afternoon after a few hours at my desk. I walked into the living room to discover my
husband had made our toddler a guitar out of cardboard. He has rediscovered his
love of guitar playing during lockdown and Sol loves it. She was
so excited she was getting her own guitar that she broke into a highly expressive and unintelligible
babble, gesturing with her hands, and making certain I understood how brilliant it all was.
It was wonderful to witness. I sat down on the floor beside her and she gave me
a big hug and I thought I'm never buying a plastic toy again...
I also thought,
I have the greatest lockdown team ever. This is going to be alright.
One day we will be able
to walk around the block and we will love every minute of it. Until
then we will make cardboard instruments and deconstruct cardboard faces and
paint empty toilet rolls, and bury treasure in tubs of sand and sing and dance
and write and create and feel gratitude for the freedom of our minds to imagine and muster a surprisingly rich life within the confines of four walls.
Thanks for reading! You can find me on my Facebook Author Page or on Instagram.
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