Published 19 October 2020
We moved to the countryside a year ago.
We escaped from Planet Thanet. The overcrowding. The constant noise of cars, buses and pubs. We gained a garden, a garage, and the smells of rural living.
We were gearing up for a year of adventures, near and far.
Then a pandemic swept across the world and screwed up everyoneโs plans.
Our neighbours, although noisy at times, have been kind and generous. They made us feel welcome. I slept better than I had in years. Karta had space to play and got his first full-sized trampoline.
When lockdown came, we were glad to be in a house rather than trapped in a top-floor flat. We had space. A garden. A place for projects. A place to breathe. For a while, we were able to lock away the outside world.
The move to Wingham was a challenge financially. Without help from generous family members, we would not have been able to break away from the situation we were in.
But I do not want to dwell on that.
We have been lucky to find this place. Things can always change at a momentโs notice, but I am learning to take each day as it comes. Focus on what is in front of me. Avoid getting caught up in what-ifs and maybes.
I have continued as club secretary at the local youth football club, despite my lack of interest in the sport. Being closer to the club has made the job easier, but there are still challenges.
Rhona thinks I have been spending too much time running the club, and that I should focus more on work and educating our son.
I think she might be right.
The plans I had made with Karta also failed to materialise. We were going to visit several big indoor skateparks across the country, but Covid cancelled those venues. That has been hard on him. Since being taken out of school to be educated at home, he has shown greater interest in riding his scooter for exercise. Most of his friends ride too, so not being able to see them has been difficult.
Lockdown gave me time to reflect on what actually matters.
It also gave me time to see what needs to change.
My relationship with technology remains unhealthy. I spend too much of my life in front of screens. I have read books about reducing reliance on invasive tech, but reading about it is not the same as doing the work.
Fuck me, I sound like a stuck record.
You only have to look back through this blog to see the pattern. I am the procrastinator general. The prince of โIโll do it soon.โ
So perhaps the answer is cold turkey.
Less social media.
Fewer email checks.
Less smartphone use.
More photographs with a proper camera.
More writing by hand.
Less television.
More books.
More walks without technology.
Nothing complicated.
Just fewer inputs and more life.
The digital world will not miss me.
There is a storm on the horizon. A second surge in the first wave of the pandemic is coming, and it will bring more disruption to our lives and livelihoods.
So I will spend the winter avoiding the plague, working on my fitness, and looking after the relationships I have with my closest friends and family.
I will try to be a good neighbour.
I will do everything I can to keep my family safe and well.
It will not be easy.
But we will survive.
Until next time,
adieu.