Every year, I’ve always wanted to be able to go into hibernation from about the end of October until about Easter-time, with a foray into the world for festive feasting about Christmas/New Year.
This year, I suppose I’ll get a taste of it, with this new lockdown.
In theory, it’s just for a month, until the start of December, to “save” Christmas. Though why Christmas-visits should be saved when Passover and Easter weren’t, and Eid feasts were cancelled with a day’s notice, I don’t know. Nor is there much mention of saving Diwali (effectively cancelled by this new lockdown) or Hanukkah or the Solstice. (If I’ve missed any festivals in the coming months, I apologise.)
Perhaps these aren’t celebrated as much in England, but neither do many of those celebrating Christmas make it to a church. Not that it’s likely that will be allowed this year: it’ll be the BBC’s midnight mass for us.
But I doubt Christmas will be as normal for many this year. I expect even after this month-long lockdown, we’ll still have restrictions of some form or another, probably until Spring 2021.
Certainly, M and I have decided to assume our normal visit home for Christmas won’t be happening and are planning for a much smaller sort of Christmas, just the two of us. I say smaller, but that’s only with regards numbers. In the absence of family, we’ve decided to push the boat out for food. That’s also because M particularly likes turkey and we don’t eat it that often. It’ll probably feed us through January. I’ve been gathering the festive food catalogues for the various supermarkets around us, and drooling over the foods on offer.
Really, lockdown this time around hasn’t changed much for me. I’m still not seeing anyone much other than M. I’m still not aimlessly wandering around town, drifting speculatively into shops. Not that I ever really did that much before.
This time around, I won’t be having a month off work, like I did last time. This time, we still have work. I’m still working from home, holed up in my craft room, the “new normal” continuing for the foreseeable. We had been supposed to go back to the Office last month, but obviously that changed.
Just a shame the weather isn’t going to be as nice as it was during Lockdown 1. And that about 5pm each evening I’m now going around closing all the curtains, because it’s dark outside and I want to keep the heat in.
Fairy Cake Living 