One day at a time



This morning when I woke up there was a perfect half moon hanging upright in the lightening sky, like a slice of lemon with a bright rind.
At the moment, going to a café seems as unattainable  as going to the moon, which just proves how relative things always are.
In a survey asking people what was the first thing they would do when lockdown was lifted, a surprisingly large percentage answered ‘Go to the hairdresser’ — conjuring up images of hordes of bushy heads, grey or dark roots, split ends and pudding bowl cuts.



In another article, what the writer missed most was going out to eat. She could not face another day of staring at two potatoes, a can of chickpeas and a mouldy piece of cheddar, wondering what to make for lunch. She dreamt of restaurants with white tablecloths, pub lunches, or even a kebab wrapped in a piece of paper.


Amazing how much we are appreciating little things we used to take for granted—a walk on the beach, having a coffee with a friend, hugging kids. Pet owners have got a lot to be thankful for.
We have found ourselves in a weird, astonishing limbo where normal life has been all but suspended—except for those who, on the contrary, are on the front lines, tasked with keeping the most important, basic services going. The rest of us are very grateful to them now, but let’s hope we will continue to value them afterwards.

The thing that is most frustrating is the lack of proper information, rendering it impossible to make any kind of plan. 
However, even if we can’t plan yet, we can dream and we must always keep a glimmer of hope—a big part of happiness resides in anticipation.

Santorini, a dream destination



For those dreaming of their next holiday, please put Greece on your list. Towards the end of summer, supposing things have eased up and before the next wave of virus(es) hits in October, would be a perfect time, both for the beach and for the sights. Not too crowded, not too hot. So much to enjoy, and so helpful for the economy. Greece was struggling to emerge from the crisis, only to get a serious kick in the teeth. And so many people are dependent upon tourism to make a living…

It remains to be seen how affordable air travel will be in the future. Or how practicable.

Santorini with cruise ships. Less dreamy


I will end by mentioning the weirdest thing I’ve read all week. Apparently cruise bookings for 2021 are up by 40%! And here I was thinking that at least the coronavirus would be the end of those ginormous petri dishes going around the world defacing beautiful places like Venice and Santorini. But no, even after dozens of passengers were infected and many died, after they were shut inside hellish cabins for weeks, there is still demand for this kind of specialized torture. I rest my case.

 

All photos: Google

19 thoughts on “One day at a time”

  1. Personally, I cannot imagine anything worse than being on a cruise ship. Trapped on water with numerous strangers, then dumped onto a small tourist town or foreign city with a time deadline for the visit.
    As for what I miss, it’s not much as my life has hardly changed.
    But I do miss going out to eat in a restaurant, even though I am able to buy all I need to continue to make tasty meals at home.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  2. I don’t miss eating out as I haven’t been able to afford it for 10 or so years! But I do miss baking – breads and cakes and cookies – but there’s no flour and no yeast. The commercial bread bakeries seem to have no difficulty in getting flour to make their horrid bread! The only place I’d like to visit in a cruise ship would be the Norwegian Fjords – provided no one talked and they turned the engines off! Yes – I’d love to visit Greece!!

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    2. What’s happened with flour is that lots of bored people are baking at home–or trying to–and although there’s plenty of flour being ground it’s coming from mills that tend to deliver by the tankerful, or the 16 kilo bagful, to commercial bakeries, a lot of which are shut because they baked for the restaurant trade. Neither amount is much help to the home baker. And they can’t just shift over to putting it in small bags–that involves machinery and packaging and money. So get your neighbors together and put in an order for a tanker.

      Then you need to find some yeast.

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      2. So they’re not producing it? Of will it all go in landfills while some people starve. Maybe you should get a cow! Being self sufficient seems to be the only safe bet, but it’s easier said than done….

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  4. I’d love to go back to Greece, where I spent some of the most memorable holidays of my life… Sadly, spinal surgery has left me unable to tolerate sitting for hours in aeroplane seats, so I’ll never be able to leave Australia again (except in one of those floating petri dishes!). I wish I could have one more coffee in Paleokastritsa, or watch the sunset from Thira…

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  5. The DH and I had just decided there was no way we’d book a cruise – can’t believe so many people still want to do it. As for hair – mine seems to have exploded all over my head in the last few days. My son said he could talk me through how to cut it but I think I’ll wait, especially as he’s just coloured his bright pink!

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    1. Maybe you should go blue! I just had mine cut before the lockdown and it’s straight so I’m still ok, but foresee that soon I’ll be looking like a witch! Oh well…

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  6. Aaargh, ginormous Petri dishes , as you say, and I have been saying almost the same as you “It remains to be seen how affordable air travel will be in the future. Or how practicable.”…..

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  7. A cruise is one of my few ‘never say never and I really mean it’ things to do in life. Yuk.
    I imagine travel will be transformed by the time this is over with but whether for good or bad remains to be seen.

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