We’re in tears over tiers; only the Isle of Wight, The Scilly Isles and Cornwall are in Tier 1. From next Tuesday or is it Wednesday… many of us will continue being home alone. Four fifths of my family will be in Tier 3, including the new puppy, but as he’s not allowed beyond the back garden yet he probably is not bothered. For those of us in Tier Two the only difference from Lockdown Two is that all the shops are open, I think… In some ways it is a sort of Covid comfort blanket, no pressure to decide what to do or where to go next.
Christmas is still going to be a five day bubble of fun with three households allowed to meet as long as they keep all the windows open, don’t play board games and don’t hug Granny, but all that could change...
Theoretically it would have been better if everyone had stayed home for ever back in February and worn masks, even in the shower and if flights all over the world had been cancelled… We would have ended up with no food in the shops and worse still, no Amazon deliveries, but at least our leaders could not have been accused of being indecisive.
But what is life like in our new reality? My elderly next-door-but-one neighbour rang up the other evening; earlier when I walked past her house she was sitting in her porch with her granddaughter perched on a chair in the front garden, baby on her lap. I stopped to say hello at a safe distance, but her dog started barking ( the tiny dachshund barks at everyone that goes by ) , frightening the baby, who started crying… I waved apologetically and moved on. She was on the phone for over two hours, I was a bit punch drunk, but can’t complain I have no one to talk to and she makes me laugh. She was widowed when she was my age; half her family are nurses at our local hospitals and one of her sons works at the crematorium. Whatever the latest instructions Boris declares, her family have put her under lockdown. Her other son controls her central heating from his home in Malta.
On Tuesday my friend and I met at the beach hut in glorious sunshine. I can go to the shops ( the ones that are open ) or the cliff top and look at the horizon any time; I don’t feel closed in. On the promenade or up on Hengistbury Head it is like a permanent weekend or holiday time, everyone is out walking, jogging, cycling with dogs and children. Mostly they smile as they pass at a safe distance, glad to see people’s faces. Later in the afternoon when it is dark it is quite festive on the sea front; our resident four or five redundant ocean liners are fully lit up and circles of coloured light whiz past as invisible dogs run around with their flashing collars. Back at the shops the Christmas lights are up and windows are brightly lit with displays of what we cannot buy till next week.
But everywhere there will be people in tears over tiers, most of us confused with the constant changing of rules and information. Folk overworked and folk out of work. Parents going on social media to insist that though Johnny was off school sick, he tested negative for Covid and he wasn’t the cause of the whole of year seven having to stay home and isolate…
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
How on earth can the son control his mother’s central heating from Malta? What happens if she’s cold and wants to turn it up, lol?
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I think it’s the internet of things – everything connected, the same as both my sons can see what their closed circuit tv is seeing on their smart phones when they are away from home, even across the Atlantic! Apparently my neighbour has a boost button to make her living room warmer! He also offered to order her takeaway Kentucky Fried Chicken!
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Well, I’ve heard of ‘helicopter parenting’, but ‘helicopter childrening?’ that’s absurd!
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A sign of things to come or a government plot – keep telling everyone to protect their vulnerable parents and grandparents – who weren’t vulnerable until Covid!
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There’s nothing you can do about tiers except decide whether you observe them or not, but for info on the raw numbers, don’t forget you can hit the PHE site – https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map
My first date with my wife was in Christchurch, by the way!
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Thanks. I am often in Christchurch – hang on, I did often walk down the hill and cross the river to Christchurch, haven’t been there for a good while.
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Wife used to live in Pokesdown, work at the hospital, I once worked in Poole and we met on a night out in Bournemouth.
Now, we are a few miles up the Avon, just outside Salisbury.
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Janet, just reading this from another country makes me feel good. Things are not great but we are all struggling together and hoping for better days ahead. Love the photos. Happy holidays!
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Thanks Cynthia, yes most of us are muddling along not sure what will happen next.
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I don’t know how this year will be remembered but I am looking forward to looking back.
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That’s good, you can tell us what happened in case we forget!
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I might just do my best to forget . . .
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Love the last photo you’ve put up – looks like a glorious place for walking. It must be awful to live in a city without access to the countryside.
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Thanks Mary, yes I’m lucky to have Hengistbury Head within easy walking distance – at one stage the founder of Selfridges wanted to build himself a castle here – luckily it never materialised!
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Wittily sad. From the colonies, we can only watch on and promise never to call our governments stupid again. 😉 “circles of coloured light whiz past as invisible dogs run around with their flashing collars” is a gem.
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Thanks Doug
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No easy answers. Like most issues, I can see both sides. We can’t shut down the whole country, and yet things continue to get out of hand. Some people follow things strictly while others continue on like the problem doesn’t exist. One of my dear friends is in ICU tonight on a respirator. Things are escalating quickly.
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Sorry to hear about your friend Pete. If everyone had someone close in hospital they would take it more seriously.
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I don’t think people treat it seriously until someone they know dies. Then their attitude changes. We are in tier two but we are going to ignore the five days of Christmas and stay secluded. We can see the rest of the family when we have the vaccine. After all, some folks have relatives on the other side of the world that they never meet.
I’ll put the tree up when I’ve done the cards.We do everything in slow motion these days!
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Yes Julie, one choice we still have is to make our own considered plans – isolate or shield and ignore the five days. My daughter and family are in the worst area of the country and she says they are going to isolate for a week before coming to me. But with a big IF – they are going to be ready to stay at home or come away!
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