Another sunny and unbearably beautiful day. Nature is coming to life one month earlier than due. If we weren’t worried about the virus we would be worried about climate and the idiots would be swearing against Greta.
I secretely contemplated going to visit my favourite garden centre in the area. Its called quattro d and specialises in graminaceous plants. These are perennials, low maintenance and different from the usual stuff you see in ordinary garden centres. But then I thought it’s in the nearest village and if I find a checkpoint they will at least fine me 200Euros (and if I happen in the future to catch the virus they will send me to prison). So I decided against going and here I am. Thank you for the rules.
Yesterday I planted some dahlia bulbs in the garden and cleared the flowerbeds. That’s all I did. I feel very hyperactive and wish I could match the activity level of the ants which have sequestered all the slug pellets I poured on the fresh soil. Hey I had no clue ants love Slug pellets.
Cleaner just visited. She was stopped at checkpoint within our village territory. She told the police she was going to collect the daughter of a neighbour who doesn’t have a driving licence and was working at the local supermarket. They told her this is not a valid reason and suggested she instead should say she was going for some food shopping. Italy for you.
Just spent about one hour sitting in the sun chatting with one of the neighbours. One meter distance as prescribed. The neighbouring ladies wanted me to take them to one of the cachemire outlets near here (really good stuff). But fear of checkpoints…
As things are going by tonight all shops except for chemists and foodstores will be shut in the region. I don’t really mind, and it’s a good thing that the temptation to go out is curbed completely. The sooner the better the way I see it.
I suddenly feel very privileged, as if I had any doubt. I received a video msg from my sister in law, locked in her bedroom ironing, in Rome. She showed me a book my brother gave her to read. The diary of Anne Frank. I could kill him. I told her to get out and go running in the park near her house. It’s all uphill so not many people take that path and she should be ok. I told her to run fast, hoping the endorphines will help her regain her usual happy go lucky attitude. I am so happy to be here and not locked up in a flat in Rome or Milan. Every time I open the door this is what I see
And those are mulberry trees. Imagine in a few months yum yum
And here we go. Title from the Guardian says that ‘Italy’s coronavirus death toll rises 31%’. I trust the Guardian, much more than the Italian papers. A few days ago I found myself tweeting to all Italian journalists that while they are busy copying stuff from the WHO website they could do with some Google Translate help. No, recovered means ‘guariti’ not ‘ricoverati’ (ricoverati which sounds terribly like recovered actually means hospitalised). Having said that, I wish I did not trust the Guardian so much because 31% growth in death toll after three weeks is horrendously scary. Yes I am dead scared.
I can cope with that. I know how to take my mind off fear and stress. But the minute I sit down and reflect I suddenly feel horrible. My IBS (long gone) has returned with a vengeance. Two kilos down since I arrived here last Friday. It seems that my guts know what to do even when my mind is elsewhere.
Yes, I spent a long time figuring how to post a photo, phew I managed. That was a good distraction for this afternoon. I did manage to avoid news reports and the stock market (just once this morning). Now I need to cook dinner for myself and I really dont feel like it, but no way out. I need to remember that good eating habits will make me stronger should I be so unlucky.
Latest news, the largest Italian department store La Rinascente (imagine Harrods or Selfridges you lot) and a few high end stores symbols of Milan fashion have just announced they will shut down voluntarily until 3rd of April. Good old cynical me thinks its because their turnover is no longer sufficient to cover costs until things get back to normal, but I may be wrong. I so wish to be wrong and that this is a sign of civilisation. But in a country where people suspected of carrying the virus spit in the face of doctors and nurses I have actually lost all hopes of civil behaviour.
Good night everybody see you tomorrow x
