Lockdown 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

It’s morning, I’m at the dining table at home in Lockdown 6 reflecting on the previous Lockdowns. My husband and teenage children are in their rooms attending work and school from home. We stay with 5kms from home. I go grocery shopping. We go for walks with our masks on. Winter sports were cancelled. We almost make it to the end of the season. Disappointment. Finals were not played, and places were awarded based on the ladder. Vaccinations are creeping up. We are vaccinated. It gives us hope, but the Delta variety still brings the possibility of illness. Lockdown 1 – I remember watching the news about the outbreak in Italy, and how it swept across their country, sending thousands to their hospitals and overwhelming their health care system. Their painful choices to try to save patients from this new and unknown disease. How is the disease transmitted – through surfaces or airborne? Their citizens staying at home, staying apart, and singing hopefully from their balconies to each other. Flatten the Curve! We took this to our hearts for Lockdown 1. We didn’t want to have a similar outbreak in Victoria. We cared. We stayed home and wore our masks. We “Flattened the Curve,” and squashed the virus. We had a virus break and emerged briefly in mid-winter for a gasp of freedom, a return to school for a couple of weeks, then back to Lockdown 2. Ahh, and then we got creative. I couldn’t buy yeast, so I grew my own and eventually made sourdough bread. Did you make sourdough? From everyone’s online posts, so many did. It’s labour intensive and takes a lot of time. I had a lot of time. Plus you get bonus sourdough crackers and pancakes from all the “discard.” Yummy! I relearned how to use my sewing machine. I made masks for my family and friends. I followed the State guidelines and made them triple layered. I figured homemade masks had personality as opposed to the blue disposable masks. Plus fabric is washable and more sustainable. I get sad when I see all the disposable masks littering the beautiful area where I walk my dog. During these walks I saw Spoonvilles. Kids decorated wooden spoons and made little communities, where their spoons could be together. There were also Rainbows and Teddy Bears in home windows, so the kids could spot them on their neighbourhood walks with their families. So many parents and kids walking together in the streets. Families together. Not having to stay late for work, no sports practice to go to, just out walking together. That was nice. And we wore our masks. And again, together we squashed the virus. We had a nice Covid safe summer. Followed by Snap Lockdowns 3, 4, and 5. Carelessness from NSW brought fierce Delta to us for Lockdown 6. How do you fight that? We were doing so well. We tried so hard. We did and are still Flattening the Curve. Love you Victorians!