Braving the "outdoors"

Day 13 of lock-down and I decided it was time to venture into the “great outdoors”, since I was now officially out of anything “fresh”. Scarf around my mouth, gloves on my hands, list in my hand off I drove to my local supermarket. I had one shot and one shot only to get this right!

I made sure I got there as the doors opened, and luckily for me it was eerily quiet. Security was outside ready to spray my hands and my trolley. Since it was so quiet, keeping social distancing was easy, so I could venture up and down the aisles, checking off my list and also adding anything else that suddenly caught my eye. My mantra has always been, “not on the list, not in the trolley”, but under the circumstances I thought it wise to ignore that mantra just this once! The shelves were well stocked, so I had to take advantage whilst I could since everyone else was complaining how shelves seemed to be empty.

So I was guilty and went into 2 shops, at the same shopping centre, and each time I went back to put my goods in the car. The face on the security’s face was priceless, but I reassured him that he was not going to see me any time soon again, as all of this was going to have to last me until the 17th of April!

I must admit, I was quite surprised by how quiet not only the supermarkets were, but also the roads. An odd car here or there, but otherwise, no traffic to speak of. If only it could look like this every day, instead of the masses of traffic we have to endure to our day jobs! The occasional Police van driving past was nice to see.

Shopping done, so back to isolation for me for at least another 2 weeks! Am able to prove Jason wrong, by not venturing out, since he seems to think I enjoy my weekly shopping “expeditions” when in fact on a good day, I try and avoid the shops like the plague!

Have you “braved” the outdoors yet? What was your experience? What were the thoughts going through your mind? If lock-down had to carry on longer, how would you cope with this new way of doing things? If you have not ventured out here, what is stopping you?

One would say that working on ships has prepared me for this in ways I never thought possible, but that is a story for another day.

Until next time…….

Love, light and positive change,

Ophelia