We Make-Do, We Mend
Words On Changing The World
Friday 24th April 2020:
In the midst of a batch of glorious days in which Mr and me are outside dusk till past dawn, and fall asleep in reclining chairs as the stars gain sway and Venus looks as though she is disappearing down our chimney. Our hands are scrubbed, stained in mud and green.
One morning I had got up early, run to the river, had a swim, run back home, showered, breakfasted, all before work.
Another morning Mr and I got up early and did all of our Tae Kwon-Do patterns out on the grass. Then yoga stretches, then breakfast, all before work.
Tech troubles we deal with slowly, in small bursts, to mitigate frustration.
We are mostly making lockdown look good, but ache to be with family and friends. People are being bereaved. There is fear in the background. I worry for disadvantaged strangers as well as my own circle; dream of land to share.
A levelling should come of this.
Last night on a whim I picked some red sorrel and dyed an old vest in my soap pan. Not sure what I’m doing or how it will turn out - what does that remind you of?
These are experimental times.
Pictures of baking adorn every social media outlet - triumphal sourdough, epically flat meringues - it is the having a go that is holding on to sanity, that is waking us up.
Celebrity status dissolved in the acid of its own pointless privilege. (Can't help thinking this is healthier for everyone involved.)
The truth poking through: who is it who keeps you alive? Why have we not been grateful before now?
Why aren’t people who have enough money to sort out every problem in the world sorting out the problems?
How To Shun A Billionaire:
We celebrate our ordinary lives.
We live as small-scale and local as possible. The revolution is a farmers’ market. It’s a pot of herbs on your windowsill. We make-do, we mend. We learn baking, sewing, gardening. Pickles. Jams. We check on our neighbours, friends, family. Cultivate green spaces, accessible re-wilding. Ask each other for help because it turns out most of us care.
Comments
And how I hope that when the current crisis is over that we DON'T return to normal.
Take care, dear lady.
I'm thinking that some of the changes that aren't taking place because of the pandemic are for the good. The learning to be do-ers, rather than depending on someone else to do things for us. (There was actually an article in our newspaper about a woman and her family who were having to "learn" how to clean their own home after their decades' long housekeeper can no longer come to their house. (!) ) People who haven't cooked or gardened are learning to get 'er done, and people who can sew are making masks to donate to others. And society, as a whole, is learning to appreciate the people who deserve appreciation... like teachers and healthcare workers. I hope those good things last long after the virus has been conquered.
Take care, sweetie.