Chapter 244: Hobart during Covid 19

Today we take our dog for a walk. We head towards a busy highway. We manage to dodge the indolent car drivers on the Brooker Highway and get to the Domain. An oasis of remnant native bash in the center of Hobart.  The hazardous journey across the highway makes me appreciate the quiet paths winding through the native bush.

First sighting for our dog is some plovers. At this time of year, the plovers are not protecting their nest. They flutter away.  We keep our dog on his lead beside us and bird watch.  Amongst the grasses I see some eastern rosellas scratching around looking for food.  I glimpse a yellow wattlebird hiding in the trees.

All this walking may make us fitter and healthier. The future may mean more walking. The future may involve no social interaction.  Maybe we will have no friends but get fitter.    

Our walk continues with a detour to the local shops. The shopping center is quiet. Nobody lingering or chatting. No gazing in windows. People striding direct and with purpose.

Today is the day we normally go to the State Cinema. We enjoy watching films. But today we return home. I find a chair and wait for the film to start. While waiting I go to the toilet. The toilet is easy to find and it is easy to find my way back to my seat. We can’t be at the State Cinema.

I smell popcorn cooking. This confirms we are not at the State cinema.

Apart from our family nobody else is watching the film. Watching the film was perfect. The sound, picture, popcorn and access to the toilet was all perfect. Apart from my family there was no one else to enjoy it with. Nobody to discuss the film with. I could go online but do I want to talk to people who spend their lives up in the clouds.

After the film we visit one of our daughters.

She is up in the clouds obeying her I-phone while my grandson sees us and becomes very active. He knows something I don’t.  And he loves showing me his new skill. He knows how to use his gleaming coffee machine. 

We sit outside around a table and wait for our proudly presented coffee. My daughter puts down her I-phone and joins us for morning tea. Which is lattes and espressos.

We discuss growing vegetables. We discuss where, what and seeds or seedlings.

The future may involve more days like today. No cafes with luscious cakes and slices. More eating at home. We might eat less with non-family. Have less visitors. Socialise less. We might have less friends but eat better. Maybe we will become healthier.

In the evening we watch the news. It is more horrific and terrifying than the film we watched. The news has a plot that keeps changing with no guaranteed happy ending.

Normally I lie back and doze through the politicians jostling for coverage and spinning the usual politically safe phrases. Waiting for the sport and weather. Today I dozed through a film with goodies, badies and a happy ending waiting for the evening news. Now the news is different every day. What is our score at the moment? What is our total?  Where did these people catch it? Reality is more terrifying than escapist films.

Every day, as we watch the news, we blame somebody or something. Every day we say what should be done.  The experts don’t know what is going to happen.  This vacuum is filled by Facebook and us people with no training or experience. We are the new experts.   They should…

I love Hobart and normally describe it as the best city in the world.  I still feel like this but I can’t say it. Others who live elsewhere around the world are suffering. Others are getting a worse view of the virus than us. Others don’t have a health system as good as the Tasmanian Health Department. Others can’t amble in native bush and the fresh air.  Others don’t have back gardens with a veggie plot. 

 Others don’t have internet access.

I want a future where other people don’t need to suffer in order for me to feel incredibly lucky to live in Hobart.

A future where everybody everywhere beats this virus. And post-corona everybody chooses to get fitter and healthier. By eating better and walking more.