Tales from the Red Zone

After all the drama of the weekend, Prime Minister middle of the night conference (on Facebook) to tell us the lockdown would become more strict, i.e. no solitary walks in the fields for me, I decided it would be a good idea to go shopping for food, just in case Ciuseppi (that is our PM as Donald theDonald calls him) wakes up tomorrow to shut food stores down too. And so I took off for my weely leisurely adventure at the supermarket.

I was wearing a strange face mask, disposable gloves (those left by my cleaner), carrying my own shopping bags, and a piece of paper with a self declaration of identity and that I am leaving the house out of necessity (this form has already changed three times in the past two weeks, making me feel sorry for all those people without a printer). Plus my shopping list, which I had taken two days to prepare, trying very hard to think of all the things, aside from food I might need. Here is your warrior, in action

Have you finally stopped laughing, climbed back from the floor and recomposed yourselves? Right. Next piece of information. In this small albeit charming village where I am based, there is only one supermarket, and a pretty good one normally, except it does not have a fish counter (for fresh fish you need to drive circa 20km, and now this is not allowed alas). I am especially fond of it because every now and then it sells large and beautiful orchids at Eur 4 each.. so my house is normally well stocked with amazing flowers. (Well now I am stuck with forsythia until the roses bloom). Normally this place is crowded and the shelves are well stocked with a large variety of food and non food (I was going to say non essential argh) items.

I think that during the weekend everyone made a long shopping list like me, as when I arrived there there was a long queue outside. They only let few people in at any time. I waited 35 minutes. Fortunately it was sunny and not so cold. Entertainment provided by the lady in front of me who was shouting abuse at those whom she thought were jumping the queue. She then turned to me and told me she loathed our government in particular for having chosen a Big Brother contender as communications manager. Our Alastair Campbell is Mr Casalino, who advises the PM to communicate to the nation the progressive loss of their rights from Facebook, at night.

Once inside, not many people, and all who were there, both supermarket staff and clients, wearing face mask and disposable gloves. I spent almost one hour there. Many things were not available, the most annoying of which was fruit other than kiwis, apples and oranges. So I bought tons of those. I was also doing some food shopping for the elderly neighbours so I ended up with similar amount of shopping bags top those I was used to whilst living in London (family of four plus au pair and perennial flow of guests). Shopping like there was no tomorrow is the name of the game.

I suspect I will wait at least two weeks before I return there.

I started exercising seriously after noticing that inaction is really not good for the body. I now have my threadmill in front of the tv set, an old and small one, so I cannot for the sake of God link it to Netflix or Premium. I am happy to tell you I now know how the ancient Greeks used to play James Bond underwater. Fascinating. Apparently they used a sack made of animal gut skin filled with air which they were inhaling from and exhaling into, so they could swim underwater all armed and clothed to reach their destination in incognito. When I finished with the exercise they were moving on to the Roman catapult. Sadly for you, I switched the tv off.

Last night Boris introduced lockdown in the UK. I was expecting it, as I don’t think any national health service can survive the number of patients this virus is producing so fast. So , dear old Boris went from the stoical attitude of the first weeks (‘many more families are going to lose loved ones’) to more aggressive measures (‘stay home to stay safe’). Having been in lockdown myself for a couple of weeks, and having seen our government move from ‘it’s just a flu’, ‘there is no chance the virus will come to Italy from China’, to increasingly more restrictive measures, and increasingly heavier punishment for those who do not respect the new rules, I was trying to figure how Boris was going to enforce the limits he set.

So, first thing I noticed is that he was a bit vague. All those who can work from remote should do so, the rest should go to work… what does it mean really when it is not generally up to the employee to make that decision. I was expecting him to have studied the Italian experience. Only last night the cabinet was in session, for the third day in a row, trying to decide what is an essential business (to stay open) and what is not (shut down). Well in my view Italy and the UK should only shut down those places of work where the employer cannot guarantee safety for his employees (i.e. minimum distance, face masks, disposable gloves). The rest should stay open making maximum use of remote working (the famous ‘smart’ working of the Italians!). Italy I am afraid has missed the train. Maybe there is still time for Boris to avoid doing harakiri with the whole economy.

Second, he mentioned that everyone can go out for a walk or run alone or with other members of the household once a day. How on earth is the police going to ascertain that this is not the third or fourth little walk one is taking? In Italy we use forms to declare who we are, where we live, that we havent tested positive and what are we doing outdoors. Despite the form about 50,000 have been fined so far. BJ has not mentioned forms or God forbid, GPS tracing systems. He must rely a lot on citizen’s sense of duty, compliance, but with a country so divided by the recent Brexit saga if I were him I wouldn’t count on it. And proof of this were the photos of crowded London tube trains this morning.

It’s late now and I need to eat something. So I am going to say goodbye and goodnight xxx

Grrrr Lockdown has become more stringent. For me that means no walks in the fields behind the house despite the fact that there is no one else in the fields. So I go multiple times a day to the rubbish and recycling point because I think that is the only outdoor activity allowed.

I can of course borrow the neighbour’s dog and take a leisurely walk around the block! Apparently if you, while driving to the supermarket for grocery shopping, cross the limit between two towns you will have your car impounded. But as the car pounds are shut for coronavirus the car will be impounded in your own property with the police coming to check every now and then.

Right. Last night there was also a ‘Commander Alpha’ venting his frustrations on the web with full balaklava on (wonder whether that is as effective as a surgical face mask). That really reminded me of a call to arms for the scope of a coup d’etat. I don’t really understand how press agencies here lend themselves to propagating this kind of news. There you go. It was late enough and with the Prime Minister talk to the nation from his Facebook account to tell us to be patient and that all no essential activity will be shut down, and with the army already on the streets, as you can imagine I did not get much sleep. That is I did not get to sleep until I was knackered about 5-5.30 then I slept a few hours and when I woke up I fely guilty as I thought the neighbours realised I slept in and I really don’t want them to think I am a lazybones.

Whatever. Today it was also mother’s day in the country where my children live.

Yep I took the rubbish out a few times. I also trimmed the grass around the flowerbeds. Cooked Ate. Cleaned.

I spoke to a couple of very good friends, Sheila and David. I realised while I was talking to them that I was talking very fast as if we would be about to be cut off any minute.They were more relaxed than me. Maybe because where they are the virus or the lockdown have not yet hit them badly. Maybe because I am a nervous wreck and they are not.

I cooked a shitty pizza, and ate it.

That’s all. Goodnight

Spring has arrived and everything is blooming. I did something sightly dangerous yesterday to get some fresh flowers for the house. I ventured on a sliding a slippery slope along the canal that runs along the garden wall. There was a forsythia and some other tree with nice pink flowers, and emerged like the Botticelli Venus covered in petals, hahaha, with t-shirt and leggings though.

Yes and the swimming pool will open on 25 April. Water will be cold but I will be swimming hurray! These things fill me with joy, and, looking back, that was the normality last year.

We really need to start thinking what is the new normal, how things will be and should be when we get out of here. I was talking with two dear American friends last night. The discussion went on schools and universities, on how quickly the switch to e-learning is happening. Basically like with online shopping, it was never a matter of if but a matter of when. I was fortunate enough to spend many years in the European country that was the first to embrace all things starting with e-. My children’s homes have few books and no cds or dvds. They belong to the streaming generation. I moved onto streaming in the second half of my life and still like to surround me with the physical possession of objects that give me pleasure (and no, it aint vibrators). But apart from that I buy so much from Amazon that I was recently offered a small business account.

I can see a future where most learning will be carried out online. The virus is simply accelerating a structural change that was bound to happen sooner or later. Maybe we don’t like the idea now, but it will make our lives much easier. I know, I know, social contact, networking, bla bla bla. But let’s think for a moment. The people I talk to most right now are a bunch of twitter friends. They will never know me as well as my best friends, but still you can get most of what you need in terms of networking through online channels. Yesterday I even had aperitivo with my brother (it was his name day), mother ad sister in law through whatsapp video call. It was a very good thing. It totally felt as if we were in the same room.

My greatest concern is that we do not have the clarity of vision in my country that will allow for the change to occur speedily and without hiccups. This is a game of first come first served. Amazon is Amazon because Bezos had the vision, and was the first, the road opener. The real stakes will no longer be in trade deals. Globalisation. Climate change. So yesterday. Change is the name of the game and not planning for it, not having the vision for how things to come need to be shaped will make this a thirld world country.

Jotting down ideas. A friend with the virus was just venting on twitter that she is very worried, not for her health or for being locked in her home for an extended time, but because she does’t know what she will find out there once the lockdown will be over. She is worried that the structure of the country will not withstand the shock. Ok, she is not very seriously ill, but in her family there is currently three members infected, and she is worried about the country. That should tell us something. Need to change fast and adapt. But we have a country in which there are people in power who think that GDP grows during hot weather because if we turn the AC on, consume more energy and therefore, magic, more GDP. Dire straits.

On a different topic. I am sure you know this is the era of what we in Italy call the tuttologi: those who become experts in a new subject as soon as a new problem appears. Like the novel engineers when the Genova bridge collapsed, the drug experts when the debate about cannabis surfaced, economists when the spread widened, virologists during the anti-vax movement, and so on. People used to go down to the bar (dayime occupation unlike with going to the pubs or wine bars which is mostly an evening thing) and vent their theories, now they go on twitter and Facebook from the comfort of their couch and debate like there is no tomorrow. Right now we have a plethora of virologists and statisticians dominating the social media. I call them the necrophiles because every day they discuss the shape of the curve of deaths with gusto. (Mind you today’s 627 paints a pretty scary picture even without a curve)

As if this weren’t enough we also have the fake news. I am sure you are all aware. Let me tell you the funniest before going to have my dinner. A couple of days ago the plumber visited to fix a broken tap. All face mask and hygienising gel, while he was doing his job he asked me if it were true that we are being invaded by the Amricans, and told me it would be a terrible thing, what terrible times we are living and that he and his family were scared. I couldn’t decide if this was a joke (and I was waiting for the follow up) or a serious question. As there was no follow up, I asked on which information he based this fear. He told me that there were NATO movements in Italy and that meant we were being invaded. I kept my cool and told him that NATO is us so we can’t invade ourselves. I thought of telling him that the US right now is a reluctant NATO member, but then I decided against as I thought it too complex to explain to the plumber. So I promised I would find some information to dispel his doubts… and I did. Boy, what one needs to do to get good service around here!

Going to have dinner now. Bye everybody and thank you for reading me.

Hello there, it’s you again!

I want to thank you all my friends for visiting me here. The notion alone makes me feel a lot less lonely. Please feel free to leave comments, pictures, memes, whatever cheerful or meaningful considering the situation. We would probably all feel more connected. Or don’t, just read and then write privately or call. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable.

Comfortable for me is to try and have no anxiety and avoid routine. Sadly last night it took me four hours to fall asleep. I was concentrating very hard on something. I shouldn’t say but there you go. How much did I lose since the beginning? Well I think, now that I peeped into my accounts, enough to buy a lovely flat in London. Who cares, fate will deal with things. and what comes down will eventually come back up. But last night the internet connection was gone and I could not check, and so I started having visions of poor me homeless like the Little Match Girl. Oh boy, that was a real fight. I think there were three of us in bed. Hans Christian Andersen, the positive happy go lucky old me (e.g. what comes down will eventually go up, don’t move and enjoy the sun), and the other me who wanted everybody else to shut up so I could sleep. Bloody internet. I still have ADSL conection here. The (high speed?) fiber is just outside the gate, but the telecom company says they haven’t yet had time to prepare a rental contract with the company that brought the fibre here. Italy for you. Responsible for my anxiety attack.

Pity because I thought I would sleep like a log. I had gone walking in the fields to avoid police, carabinieri, army and, as we say here, sailcaz. It had been a nice walk, slightly spoiled by a twitter conversation I had found myself entangled with on the topic of personal data usage to identify contacts with infected. Now that I think about it let me tell you from my non-expert point of view. There is a current trend among Italian politicians to aggravate the loss of personal liberties with the desire to infringe GDPR. The current message to steer public opinion in their favour is as follows. If Korea, China, Hong Kong etc have successfuly curbed the spread of the virus by using personal data collected through smartphones and GPS systems (no way they can isolate the effect of that particular measure as it was introduced with several others which we havent yet in Italy), why shouldnt we do the same?

Well, my answer is, because of GDPR! What Korea has done is to publish everybody’s past and current whereabouts together with information about whoever else they crossed paths with. That is frankly intolerable given that we are currently staying home except for very serious reasons or for food shopping and going to doctors or chemist. So please fine those who infringe restrictions but do not advocate the right to snoop into my private life without prior adequate legislation and setting up of institutions to ensure my data would only be utilised for tracing my contacts in the context of coronavirus scare, but not for other purposes, and definitely not sold or ‘passed on’ to private companies. And the enabling legislation should be clearly time framed within definite and measurable benchmarks. I never cease to remind people that the’temporary legislation’ that was passed in Italy to help with the search for the kidnapped politician Aldo Moro is still in place more than 40 years later. Unfortunately almost all Italian politicians aim for an ever larger control of the state over the individual. Likewise for the individual’s wealth. But that’s another story.

Yep, this thing bugs me a lot. I was a teenager (you, bad guys trying to figurehow old I am) during the years when the Radical Party was fighting to grant respect for human rights. Yep, we got right to divorce in 1974 and right to (but difficult to implement) have an abortion. Every now and then I stop to think that my kids take all this for granted. I guess we took for granted the right to vote for women which our parents weren’t born with but had to fight for. Basically I am part of a generation that followed the trend to ensure that human rights were granted, respected, protected. My children are now part of an era in which their right are diminished or threatened. I brought them up well and I assume they are aware and express their position adequately and maybe more than that. But I am on twitter and I see the sheep, the faithful, the idiots. OMG do I fear what is coming.

So yes my walk was a little bit spoiled by a young ‘faithful’ who was ready to give up his personal data just because a charming politicians said so with his bovine expression.

But not spoiled to the point that I could miss this sunset.

And so I woke up today, with the sound of Pavarotti, the best ever recording of Nessun Dorma, Lincoln Centre 1979. Listen to it, close your eyes, feel the pathos. Dilegua oh notte, Tramontate stelle, Tramontate stelle, All’alba vincero’, Vincero’, Vincero’.

It erupted in my heart, my head, my soul. I was crying profusely, unable, unwanting to do anything. Just paralysed by the beauty of music, the portentuous lyrics, the clarity of the message.

It took me sometime to recompose myself and get going. And get going included reading the news, staying abreast of developments, catching up with friends, loved ones. And that included good and bad things, happy and sad, worries and relief. This is a constant helter skelter. It takes a skilled navigator to fend off the obstacles which abound on everyday path.

I remember the Twin Towers. Don’t we all. That was a landmark, not just in the way our lives are shaped and carried out, but especially in the way we feel about others and about our finite lives. Dare I say we became better persons as a consequence? I certainly feel I did. More compassionate, more caring, way more selfless. Did we learn to reposition our priorities? I think so. That was 2001. And sadly we had several follow up episodes to refresh our memory in the years since.

However, and I am no sociologist, I guess human survival instinct pushed us to put those memories in a corner, maybe get a bit tougher in our hearts to avoid too much suffering and fear. We all think, well ok, no one around me suffered, or business as usual, we won’t let terrrorists change our way of life, or let’s not let this upset us and let us instead concentrate on work, beauty, family, life, because those are the things that matter.

But apart from the initial tsunami in our lives that September 11 brought, I do not remember anything like the mood swings and turmoil that the virus (or is that the solitude that comes from lockdown) brings.

Anyway, the hours passed, I read, I cooked, I ate, I spoke with friends (thank you whatsapp), I tidied up, did some exercise. This afternoon I was listening to some light music and this song came on

There had been other songs before, beautiful, maybe a bit sad, romantic. Nothing happened. This one had me in a flood of tears. Some words. E’ la voglia di sognare che ci fa dimenticare una vita fatta solo di giornate ad aspettare, It is the wish to dream that makes us forget a life made only of days waiting.

Is that what is going to be like? It’s been only a week, and I am so very privileged, yet so emotionally upset. Big house, garden, nice neighbours. What the hell is going on with the rest of the country? The vast majority is locked in small flats, with family members they aren’t used spending so much time with, with very limited access to the outdoors (people are being fined heavily for breaking the rules). How will everybody cope? they keep on telling us we haven’t reached the peak yet. My guess is that we’ll be in lockdown for another three months. How will we come out of this and what type of persons will we be at the end? Will we this time keep the lessons learned with us without resorting to cold BAU (business as usual)?

I don’t know how, but yes I do find the strength to hope that everything will be alright. People have been hanging sheets from their windows with the writing Tutto andra bene on. We all want to believe everything will be alright although we know that not everyone will be alright. I am telling others so. But every now and then my heart misses a beat. For now though, that is me and Pavarotti.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0EDODbQP_wbBLNjc4JVhYjkTw#Cereta

Hello everybody. Today I was planning to talk only about the UK strategy and how that upsets me, but I am going to start with something else.

A friend of mine just got her Covid-19 test results. She is positive. No other symptom except for a mild fever. Problem is her dad and her elderly aunt also have it. There is no mother. There is one sister, a doctor, very busy helping others in hospital. Aunt, who clearly is a survivor, has no symptom at all. Father in hospital with respirator. I am reassured by the fact that she is a very capable person and will make it physically. Even if she stays like this she will have another two weeks in isolation. Isolation and worry for her relatives will be hard on her. Her friends, me included, will be very supportive but from a distance. As I mentioned yesterday the circle is closing tighter.

Someone wrote today that it is possible to do multiple video calls on whatsapp. While you are in a video call with someone you just need to touch the screen and add someone else. Up to four people. That will be fun at aperitivo time. Can’t wait to get out of this SOLITUDE. I am sure my American friends will not have time zone problems.

Let’s go down to differences between UK strategy and the WHO/ rest of the world. This topic interest me particularly because A) I am a naturalised Brit and lived 25 years of my very short 😉 life in the UK and I have seen a better UK than the one that can be observed at the moment and so wish the morons would disappear, B) my children live there and the policy decisions of BloJo have a heavy influence on their well being. I think we can all agree these are sufficient reasons for me to venture into this territory.

Boris told the country that many more families would lose their loved ones before their time. Certainly he was being realistic. But definitely it looks like he is making sure this statement will hold true in the future by adopting a strategy that is in direct contrast with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and with that adopted in all other countries which were hit so far. So, here in Italy we have complete lockdown, all shops are shut except for food shops, chemists, newsagents and petrol stations. (Yes i know also tobacconists, but that is another story, how can you let people smoke during a virus pandemic which impairs the respiratory capacity!). All work that can be carried out from remote is being carried out from remote. All workplaces where an infected person worked have been shut for quarantine. (Imagine with more than 21000 infected how many factories/offices are still open). No travel allowed except for very serious reasons (apparently death of a relative is not within the reasons deemed serious). Yes it is true we got to this point possibly too late, as we had one whole month warning from China, which no one took seriously, and why? because China is far? Because the Chinese got it from a bat, and yes they do have live animals for sale in food markets, but so what? once the rabbit is out of the hat (do excuse the pun), you need to think remedies, not line of causation. That will be good for an academic paper, surely not to save people.

Ok, so we have these very tough restrictions and army on the streets for enforcement (lovely) and one more anti costitutional measure being contemplated. They are planning to use big data and make it public so that we will all be able to check movements of infected people and see whether we crossed paths in the past weeks with any of the currently infected. Boy, do I see a divorce wave coming!

Other countries are doing the same, they start with shutting down schools, universities, work remotely (hey in Italy it’s called smart working, did you know that?), travel bans, etc. Soon others will be in lockdown too.

But Boris decided no! we know better, we have the best epidemiology modellers in the world (did you know that? no, neither did I) and we know that we must get lost of people infected to create herd immunity. Now, I am not an epidemiologist, so do not take my word, and also I have made clear that I do have a personal interest in this topic, but please do take some time to read this thread. What it says is that authorities should concentrate on i) reducing peak demand for healthcare services, ii) reducing deaths. Herd immunity is a by product, a side effect. No one in his right mind would wish for 80% of his population to be infected so he can get herd immunity. Do you know mortality rate as of today in Italy is nearing 7%????

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238821515526897664.html

I assume that Boris is moved by two main motives. First to unite Britons along that thick stoicism that has roots in the WWII heavy bombing of London and subsequent Londoners response, and that got re-awakened at every trerrorist attack in recent years. Second, to prove that outside the EU we can be different and better and we’ll prove it. Ha! A huge gamble and as with Brexit he won’t pay out of his pocket if things go wrong. The nation will.

But this is a virus, not a war, nor terrorism. This response is totally inappropriate, the price to pay if things go wrong is humongous, and this time is not money or jobs, it is lives. People what are you waiting for? This person is not fit to be in charge of your lives.

If I were the big boss of the entire world, I would put the whole world in simultaneous lockdown, thats the only way to beat the virus.

And on this note of wisdom and common sense, I am saying goodnight to you all. Tonight I am preparing Peruvian chicken soup. Lots of love to everybody.

this so far is a really bad day and I am feeling quite down and depressed.

Issue n 1. The government decided to use the army to help enforce the lockdown restrictions. This means wherever you go you will find police, carabinieri and army officers to question anything you do including a walk around the block. I don’t know about you but to me army in the streets with police powers brings back memories which are not so pleasant. Anyone old enough to remember Chile, for example? And Chile had a Prime Minister far superior to the current Italian PM. Not counting on the rest of the Italian government. The head of the Democratic Party is now in quarantine as he discovered a couple of days ago that he contracted the virus. The head of the other coalition party is more or less useless, his only previous professional experience being that of a steward in the Naples football stadium. I remember Chile. And the army on the streets scares me. Especially now that the popular consensus is that it is ok and necessary to enforce the lockdown measures.

Issue n 2. please read the attached thread. Then draw your considerations https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1237142891077697538.html

Issue n 3. I have children in the UK. Please watch the following keeping in mind that the UK is now the only country in the world not adhering to the WHO suggested guidelines. https://twitter.com/skynews/status/1238238415163924482?s=21

Issue n 4. Public parks are now shut in Milan and if you are found more than one block away from your home you are fined and will eventually go to prison.

I think it is enough for today. So far I managed to shower, cook and eat one meal. I might go to the rubbish bins later. I feel very very disturbed by all of the above.

Here we go.

Day started well, on a lazy note. Reading in bed is a real luxury which I think is a big bonus of life in lockdown on my own. Whoah! I can do what I like and have breakfast when I want.

Today I socialised a bit. I had two friends who work in an office nearby for lunch. They came in smelling of disinfectant, totally sanitised like a portaloo toilet. They did not try to kiss or touch, very demure attitude, sat at opposite ends of very large dining table to respect (and exceed) the government prescribed safety distance of one meter. They are both very worried by the situation. completely different attitude from the jolly usual mood they had three weeks ago when I saw them last. They both have young children, working wives and elderly relatives. Schools have been shut for a while and they do not want to have either cleaners or baby sitters in the house for fear of contagion. They cannot ask their parents to provide childcare as elderly people are the ones most at risk ffrom coronavirus and need to be isolated, especially from the germ carrying grandchildren. As a result my friends take turns with their wives to look after their kids. Work suffers, needless to say. Kids are bored. Very. Nothing is open. You are allowed to go for a walk around the block, but not go for a run or cycle or play football. Swimming pools and gyms are shut, and so are libraries and everything else except for food shops, chemists, newsagents, tobacconists and laundry shops. One of them lives in Brescia, currently the virus epicentre. Very worried. The other friend lives with his family just across the border between Lombardia (the region I am in) and Veneto (the region next door). So he drives here through country lanes to avoid checkpoints which would delay him into work.

We normally have so many different topics of conversation, but guess what we talked about today? The big V. And it was such a good thing that I was busy with cooking, eating and clearing up. Because guess what? As I later discovered the stock market dropped another 17% today. Apparently Madame Lagarde had forgotten to call SuperMario this morning to figure the right set of policies for coronavirus time. Or maybe she did but she misplaced the post-it with the key words to reassure the markets, and here we go: worst ever press conference from the ECB head. Not much fun at all.

So to try and keep busy and not think, I decided to bake my unforgettable cake. But I was missing a couple of ingredients so I decided to venture to the local supermarket wrapped in my big scarf twice over my mouth and nose and wearing sunglasses. Last time I went shopping it was Sunday morning when it was all relatively normal. At least compared to today. Empty car park. No female shoppers. Just male shoppers with surgical face masks (where do they get them?) and disposable gloves. Also donning the same attire were all the supermarket staff. And to make it weirder and weirder there was the recorded message from our Prime Minister in a loop about keeping a distance from others, stay home, wash our hands, blah blah blah. A scene straight out of a bad science fiction movie. No, maybe a movie from the old Soviet Union days, except that here the supermarket shelves were very well stocked.

Sad sad sad. I managed to bake my cake and respond to the usual calls and messages of friends and family checking on me. And that is when you happen to realise that the circle is getting narrower and narrower. You start getting to hear more frequently of people you know who are having a case in the family or who are suddenly getting sick themselves. Someone told me we will all get it. I just so do not want to get it. I had the flu once in my life and that was bad enough for me, I don’t think I want to experience coronavirus, so please spare me.

I had dinner with my neighbours and brought them the cake which they loved. We managed to avoid talking about the stock market (that’s the new ‘don’t mention the war’ thing) and almost avoided talking about the virus, concentrating on bitching savagely about other neighbours. Except when at the very end of dinner someone let out that in the local supermarket four (four!!!) cashiers have it and are now in quarantene in their homes.

I must have it then. I am sure I must have caught it…. and on this note I will try to sleep tonight.

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

Hello everybody, here I am from the lockdown zone

This is the first time I am writing a blog, so please forgive any mishaps and other amenities. I was prompted to write as I found myself inside the lockdown zone in Lombardia, Italy, luckily in my beautiful country home, rather away from all urban life and other forms of what I consider civilisation. It’s been circa two weeks since coronavirus first appeared on the Italian soil, after one good month of warning from China, which I am afraid no one here took too seriously. We in fact had a government concentrated on power games, the opposition concentrated on various forms of destructive behaviour, the general public in total denial (skiing holidays and aperitivos being the most frequent forms of denial explicitation), the ‘experts’ busy on how to extract most money and fame from the situation, and various other idiots compounding the scene. We experienced as in China rapidly escalating numbers of infected people and subsequently rapidly increasing numbers of dead people, although thanks God for the vast majority it was patients with other serious medical conditions who suffered the worst fate. Even dummies now know what is logarithmic growth.

It started off with the initial spread in a hospital in a small town south of Milan. It later became apparent that there were two different protocols in place for how to deal with the typical Coronavirus patient. And so it was that it took quite some time for the first patient to be identified as such and in the meanwhile this hospital was transformed into a massive Petri dish, and the town of Codogno became the first virus hotbed in Italy. Being northern Italy the most productive and active region of Italy, characterised by high mobility due to work relations, before one knew, the virus had spread to quite a number of other less known but nonetheless productive small towns.

At the time I was in a remote ski resort at the border with Switzerland, not so many Italians, but really many people from northern and eastern Europe there. I thought it would be unwise to take the runs which necessitated using a closed ski gondola, so I had become a pain to my partner who was a bit more relaxed about this, and was choosing my skiing itinerary based on the prospect of using only open air chair lifts. After a while I stopped skiing and stayed home. Eventually the virus spread got worse and tourists started cancelling their holidays not so much for fear of catching the virus there, but mostly due to the fear of being quarantined once back in their countries of origin. The ski resort got progressively empty. Bar and restaurant owners increasingly depressed. And I got very bored and restless especially because it had started snowing heavily and being locked up in two rooms was not my idea of heaven. I even started having visions of my bum sagging due to inactivity. ‘Figures’ as they say in Milan.

So at the first chance I escaped. I bought a first class train ticket and travelled in splendid isolation to Milan. It took me three days home in Milan to prepare for my final escape. I loaded my car with books and clothes and SHOES and travelled to this country house in the middle of Pianura Padana, the large Po Valley, in Lombardia. I arrived here last Friday, and found that on the same day in the nearby houses a few couples of elderly people had also arrived to run away from ‘the plague’ and stay safe.

Milan in the meanwhile was living a schizophrenic moment with people wanting to prove that life goes on. ‘Milano non si ferma‘ was the logo of the day for a few days. They even printed trendy T-shirts with the logo. Images of youths drinking outside bars along the city’s canals dominated Instagram and made their way to the papers. Parents decided to take their kids for a skiing holiday to the Alps or even better to the nearest beaches in Liguria, thanks to the good weather. Photos of packed ski resorts and beaches also appeared on the national media and eventually someone alerted our Prime Minister.

On Saturday evening the news that the government was going to declare Lombardia a red zone, in lockdown, was leaked to the press. As usual I kept my wits, and decided that there was no point running away from here because the virus would spread anyway from here, and that if I were to catch it, I’d rather be treated here than in some hospital in the south were corruption, nepotism and incompetence might be present, or even in London where BloJo is now determined to let the virus run amock among the population.

On Saturday night a few people called to check on my well being. My mother in Rome was unwiswly having a dinner party at her home. She seemed very happy though. A British friend called thinking I would be rather upset by the developments but was happy to find me in very good spirits and suggested I started a blog to communicate with the rest of the world what it is like to those who will get to this point later. And so thank you Anna for goiving me this idea. And thank you Sheila for helping me set this up.

Ski resorts were shut. My partner who had decided to remain in the ski resort was left with not much to do but listen to the news all day. I am happy here, with books, garden, netflix, cooking and the elderly neighbours. It feels a bit like a holiday for now. I ration the amount of news and do not look at the stock market. I concentrate on good things. I might even see the Clematis bloom. Last night the whole of Italy was put in lockdown and there are rumours that it might get worse, with only food stores and supermarkets allowed to stay open.

I will report to you news from the lockdown also known as the red zone. They say it will be until April 3rd. Sperem as they say in Milan, let’s hope so.