Unprecedented urges

Despite the emotional traumas the last few years have dealt us, we are some of the luckier ones at the moment. We have a house, a garden, food in the fridge, wine in the rack and 5 toilet rolls. And the dogs. In times when we are advised to keep our social distance, the dogs are blissfully unaware of the global crisis and collectively expect regular tummy rubs. As I look out into the garden from my writing spot, I can see spread eagled woofers enjoying the much- needed sunshine. For them, life goes on as normal. When it comes to Postive Mental Attitude, we can learn a lot from our dogs.

In these ‘unprecedented’ times, a word that no government official can resist using at least 20 times in any interview, ways to occupy our brains and body are needed. In my case, desperately. Over the last couple of weeks, I have come to realise just how difficult I find not being busy which is amusing since I had made the decision to retire from training because I wanted to slow down and take things easy. Since I have never been good at watching anything on TV that lasts more than an hour and there is only so much cleaning and yoga a body can take, I have to find more constructive ways of keeping mind and body healthy. So here’s what I have failed at so far;

1. Cooking. Nearly set the kitchen on fire yesterday when I turned the wrong hob on and the oven gloves set on fire.
2. Packing. I’ve packed so much away that the stuff that could keep me occupied is now in a box buried somewhere in the garage.
3. Doing my own nails. Since the salons are all closed, I bought all the stuff to put my own false nails on. It’s taken me 2 days to to get the cement off my nails and unglue my fingers.
4. Gardening. Weeding is a necessary practice when gardening until you stick your hands into a bunch of stinging nettles.

Despite the above, life isn’t all stings and mishaps. Thankfully I have found some jigsaw puzzles not yet packed and of course I have my daily French lesson online. My girlfriends and I have decided that as we can’t meet up, we should have a virtual night out via Skype and Whatsapp. Gossip and giggles hold back for no-one! And I ring people and they ring me. Taking the dogs for their usual early morning exercise is relatively easy in as far as social distancing goes as Arry seems to have that effect on most people under normal circumstances and the park is still muddy. It’s a bit strange seeing so many joggers out and people walking without dogs but these are of course, unprecedented times.

I’m generally a positive person and in spite of the need to relieve boredom, I’m going to stay that way. I don’t read the papers and definitely not the doom and gloom on social media. And I’ll get to France at some point in the not too distant future. I did consider buying a Winnebago the other evening if I can’t get get there at the end of April, now that would be a great book. “The Widow plus Woofers and a Winnebago”. Keep safe out there everyone and above all, keep your distance.

“Scratch a dog and you’ll find a permanent job” (Franklin P. Jones)