Day Twenty-Six (Monday 20th April) - Covid Announcement, Calm and Contraception
Well it was a strange and interesting day.
Michael and I awaited the 4pm announcement along with everyone else in the country. From either end of the dining table, tapping away on our computers, we both agreed that we thought lockdown Level 4 would likely remain for another week. He was also very bullish that golf would be allowed under the Level 3 conditions. I thought it would be stupid for it not to be.
I went for my beach walk mid-afternoon. The beach was strangely calm; the water was like a millpond and Little Barrier Island was shrouded in mist. A few seagulls hung about the water's edge, looking out to sea as if expecting something momentous to occur. I have to say, there was a somewhat eerie reverence about the beach today - in the most positive of ways.
Earlier in the day, when I had looked out to sea from the deck, there was no horizon - sea merged with sky in a mysterious white blanket of nature. Last week you could see every contour of Little Barrier, today you could barely see it at all.
It's not often Omaha Ocean Beach is this calm for days on end. It seems even the beach is sitting up and taking notice of the message to lay low. It's as if it, too, is joining the movement towards a better brighter world. Perhaps the tides really are a-changing.
There were a few people out and about walking, but in my little corner of the beach it was just me and a couple of gulls, staring out to the horizon and wondering what everything means!
I called in to the Superette on my way back from the beach, mainly to get bread. It was as quiet and eerie as the beach.
A basket full of stuff later (inc. wine!), and I needed to make an emergency call to Michael "please come and collect me, can't carry everything" - I had no shopping bags. Sorted.
At 4pm Michael and I settled on the couch, eyes on the TV ...
As it turns out, both predictions were spot-on. We have another week of lockdown together at Omaha and he can play golf again after that. He's pretty ecstatic about that prospect. He cleaned his clubs about 2 weeks ago, so he's ready and raring to go!
Another week in lockdown together isn't so bad. We've had a couple of gnarly moments but generally it's been as calm as today's sea.
More clarity is needed about movement between places. From what I gather, you can do a one-way trip to rejoin a split family bubble - but then you stay there. Not sure I want to leave my beach lockdown scenario and not be able to return - but I do need my home office resources as am struggling a little bit in that department.
I'll await further clarity on all this, and Brett's work scenario, and we'll make a call about what we do. Having a family meal together again will be a nice thing. Especially when we can actually go out for one again!
I am not one for initiating rules, and I despise inane ones - but all the same I am definitely not one to flout rules if they exist.
Morning: Avocado on toast with lime juice, S&P
Lunch: Ham, emmenthal and salad sandwich on fresh Freya's bread
Dinner: Plum/mango/pineapple/onion sizzled pork/chicken combo with pumpkin seeds, in a tortilla, grilled in the sandwich press - with home made slaw (which included chopped sugar snaps, spring onions and spinach). Bloody good and used up some fridge stuff!
QUOTE:
Here's a very apt quote I found today - by Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Today, it's more like a large group, but the sentiment is the same. The addition of the world "organised" after the word "committed" has some merit; a high degree of professionalism is required these days, in addition to pure pioneering spirit.
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
IPPF ...
International Planned Parenthood Federation. It's the organisation I worked for in the 1980s in London. NGO working in the field of sexual and reproductive health. I worked for the Europe Region.
I mentioned in an earlier post about having worked with someone who died of Covid - Chris, who I worked with at IPPF. He was in procurement. Through this sad event, I've had an interesting reconnection with someone else from those days (Tunisian, currently stuck in US, lives in Vienna), and we've been reminiscing. Got me thinking about those IPPF 1980s days that were unique in so many ways ...
The International Office was in a building right inside Regents Park. We shared it with an international language school and, given our organisation was also international, the site was amok with people from everywhere which was my heaven. The complex is now a university I believe.
Regents Park is stunning and we were surrounded by greenery, flowers, lakes and swans. Can there be a more tranquil working environment in the middle of one of the world's biggest busiest cities? No! There was a not-too-bad canteen and a very good bar to boot. We even had the use of tennis courts and used them quite regularly after work.
Europe Region was a very busy department and I didn't have a lot of time to look out the window but, when I did, I saw ... flowers. As far as the eye could see, flowers and greenery. Walking to/from the tube involved a walk amongst flowers. The daffodils in springtime were spectacular. It really did put a spring in your step every day.
We'd moved from more traditional-style offices in the heart of Piccadilly Circus to newly created open-plan in Regent's Park; it was pretty innovative back in 1985 and not everyone liked it. I loved it. We also had flexi-time - core hours of 10am-2pm. Be there during those hours, work the rest of your week in whatever way you liked and your workload needed. Build up excess time during a busy period, take it off when it was quieter. It was an honesty system, and it worked brilliantly. Loved that too.
Such great days, loved it all - the work, my colleagues, the travel, the environment. Lyn (now in Dorset and mentioned in previous posts) was my boss. We're still the best of friends all these years later. Oh, the adventures and laughs we've had all over the place! We still laugh heartily about one or other of them whenever we talk, which is regularly. We did a FaceTime tonight, recalling people, laughing about places, pondering the world of today. And of tomorrow ...
There's no doubt they were unique days. Working for the Europe Region, there were many countries under communist rule. The Scandinavian countries, on the other hand, were refreshingly forward thinking. Famine and over-population was rife in Africa. The one-child policy existed in China. Abortion was a huge topic everywhere, especially USA and Ireland. AIDS catapulted onto the scene during that time and a new department was set up to deal with it.
USSR was interesting. It became a member of IPPF Europe late 80s. Most women would have 10 abortions in their lifetime (truly). Oral contraception and condoms not readily available.
Lyn and I worked hard to get a million condoms sent there. It was a mammoth task, and we did it (with the help of Chris who died of Covid). But in reality, it enabled sex for 1% of the population once. Still, with abortion being the norm there at the time, it was a small step in the right direction. Change happened. Slowly. But surely.
On the other side of the world - in Japan, the pill was taboo, and condoms were the thing.
And then there was Romania where abortion was forbidden and there was no contraception. Stories of children in "orphanages" circulated around the world. Most weren't orphans at all, they were babies born to over-burdened parents who already had plenty of kids and simply couldn't afford to keep any more under the restrictive Ceausescu regime. Although backstreet abortions took place, women were destined to keep on having children they couldn't afford. Parents had little choice in a land of hardship but to give away their kids to an "orphanage". Harrowing in every way.
Oh, there are dozens and dozens of stories ... funny, sad, ground-breaking, eye-opening ...
There were many pioneering woman who have made a difference - Margaret Sanger (USA), Marie Stopes (UK) to name just two.
Margaret Mead - whose quote I've mentioned above - dared to tread into taboo topics, like sexuality, back in a time when that just wasn't done.
Talking of Russia - here's a photo I took in the Kremlin, July 2019. It's a splendid place.
I was also in the Kremlin on the day Brezhnev died, right there, in Nov 1982. Surreal moment in life!
Michael and I awaited the 4pm announcement along with everyone else in the country. From either end of the dining table, tapping away on our computers, we both agreed that we thought lockdown Level 4 would likely remain for another week. He was also very bullish that golf would be allowed under the Level 3 conditions. I thought it would be stupid for it not to be.
I went for my beach walk mid-afternoon. The beach was strangely calm; the water was like a millpond and Little Barrier Island was shrouded in mist. A few seagulls hung about the water's edge, looking out to sea as if expecting something momentous to occur. I have to say, there was a somewhat eerie reverence about the beach today - in the most positive of ways.
Earlier in the day, when I had looked out to sea from the deck, there was no horizon - sea merged with sky in a mysterious white blanket of nature. Last week you could see every contour of Little Barrier, today you could barely see it at all.
It's not often Omaha Ocean Beach is this calm for days on end. It seems even the beach is sitting up and taking notice of the message to lay low. It's as if it, too, is joining the movement towards a better brighter world. Perhaps the tides really are a-changing.
There were a few people out and about walking, but in my little corner of the beach it was just me and a couple of gulls, staring out to the horizon and wondering what everything means!
 |
| A gull ponders life |
 |
A basket full of stuff later (inc. wine!), and I needed to make an emergency call to Michael "please come and collect me, can't carry everything" - I had no shopping bags. Sorted.
At 4pm Michael and I settled on the couch, eyes on the TV ...
As it turns out, both predictions were spot-on. We have another week of lockdown together at Omaha and he can play golf again after that. He's pretty ecstatic about that prospect. He cleaned his clubs about 2 weeks ago, so he's ready and raring to go!
Another week in lockdown together isn't so bad. We've had a couple of gnarly moments but generally it's been as calm as today's sea.
More clarity is needed about movement between places. From what I gather, you can do a one-way trip to rejoin a split family bubble - but then you stay there. Not sure I want to leave my beach lockdown scenario and not be able to return - but I do need my home office resources as am struggling a little bit in that department.
I'll await further clarity on all this, and Brett's work scenario, and we'll make a call about what we do. Having a family meal together again will be a nice thing. Especially when we can actually go out for one again!
I am not one for initiating rules, and I despise inane ones - but all the same I am definitely not one to flout rules if they exist.
Morning: Avocado on toast with lime juice, S&P
Lunch: Ham, emmenthal and salad sandwich on fresh Freya's bread
Dinner: Plum/mango/pineapple/onion sizzled pork/chicken combo with pumpkin seeds, in a tortilla, grilled in the sandwich press - with home made slaw (which included chopped sugar snaps, spring onions and spinach). Bloody good and used up some fridge stuff!
QUOTE:
Here's a very apt quote I found today - by Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Today, it's more like a large group, but the sentiment is the same. The addition of the world "organised" after the word "committed" has some merit; a high degree of professionalism is required these days, in addition to pure pioneering spirit.
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
IPPF ...
International Planned Parenthood Federation. It's the organisation I worked for in the 1980s in London. NGO working in the field of sexual and reproductive health. I worked for the Europe Region.
I mentioned in an earlier post about having worked with someone who died of Covid - Chris, who I worked with at IPPF. He was in procurement. Through this sad event, I've had an interesting reconnection with someone else from those days (Tunisian, currently stuck in US, lives in Vienna), and we've been reminiscing. Got me thinking about those IPPF 1980s days that were unique in so many ways ...
The International Office was in a building right inside Regents Park. We shared it with an international language school and, given our organisation was also international, the site was amok with people from everywhere which was my heaven. The complex is now a university I believe.
Regents Park is stunning and we were surrounded by greenery, flowers, lakes and swans. Can there be a more tranquil working environment in the middle of one of the world's biggest busiest cities? No! There was a not-too-bad canteen and a very good bar to boot. We even had the use of tennis courts and used them quite regularly after work.
Europe Region was a very busy department and I didn't have a lot of time to look out the window but, when I did, I saw ... flowers. As far as the eye could see, flowers and greenery. Walking to/from the tube involved a walk amongst flowers. The daffodils in springtime were spectacular. It really did put a spring in your step every day.
We'd moved from more traditional-style offices in the heart of Piccadilly Circus to newly created open-plan in Regent's Park; it was pretty innovative back in 1985 and not everyone liked it. I loved it. We also had flexi-time - core hours of 10am-2pm. Be there during those hours, work the rest of your week in whatever way you liked and your workload needed. Build up excess time during a busy period, take it off when it was quieter. It was an honesty system, and it worked brilliantly. Loved that too.
Such great days, loved it all - the work, my colleagues, the travel, the environment. Lyn (now in Dorset and mentioned in previous posts) was my boss. We're still the best of friends all these years later. Oh, the adventures and laughs we've had all over the place! We still laugh heartily about one or other of them whenever we talk, which is regularly. We did a FaceTime tonight, recalling people, laughing about places, pondering the world of today. And of tomorrow ...
There's no doubt they were unique days. Working for the Europe Region, there were many countries under communist rule. The Scandinavian countries, on the other hand, were refreshingly forward thinking. Famine and over-population was rife in Africa. The one-child policy existed in China. Abortion was a huge topic everywhere, especially USA and Ireland. AIDS catapulted onto the scene during that time and a new department was set up to deal with it.
USSR was interesting. It became a member of IPPF Europe late 80s. Most women would have 10 abortions in their lifetime (truly). Oral contraception and condoms not readily available.
Lyn and I worked hard to get a million condoms sent there. It was a mammoth task, and we did it (with the help of Chris who died of Covid). But in reality, it enabled sex for 1% of the population once. Still, with abortion being the norm there at the time, it was a small step in the right direction. Change happened. Slowly. But surely.
On the other side of the world - in Japan, the pill was taboo, and condoms were the thing.
And then there was Romania where abortion was forbidden and there was no contraception. Stories of children in "orphanages" circulated around the world. Most weren't orphans at all, they were babies born to over-burdened parents who already had plenty of kids and simply couldn't afford to keep any more under the restrictive Ceausescu regime. Although backstreet abortions took place, women were destined to keep on having children they couldn't afford. Parents had little choice in a land of hardship but to give away their kids to an "orphanage". Harrowing in every way.
Oh, there are dozens and dozens of stories ... funny, sad, ground-breaking, eye-opening ...
There were many pioneering woman who have made a difference - Margaret Sanger (USA), Marie Stopes (UK) to name just two.
Margaret Mead - whose quote I've mentioned above - dared to tread into taboo topics, like sexuality, back in a time when that just wasn't done.
Talking of Russia - here's a photo I took in the Kremlin, July 2019. It's a splendid place.
I was also in the Kremlin on the day Brezhnev died, right there, in Nov 1982. Surreal moment in life!
 |
| In the Kremlin, Moscow |
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