Almost no traffic

on the roads made an enormous difference to my pedal to the supermarket this morning.

I needed milk. I went early. The supermarket I prefer to use opens at 7am. I knew there wouldn't be that many people around - and there were very few. 

   "Hi Cat, coping all right?" one of the staff asked me, "Let me know if I can do anything to help."

It is that sort of thing which makes me shop there rather than at the big chain one two hundred metres away. The prices are much the same, the variety is actually better and they have the excellent policy of sourcing locally where they can. They also employ students who need jobs. I approve of all of that. If I shop there on Thursdays I can also get a small discount - always useful. 

But I just needed milk so I was in and out. With luck I won't need to go back until next Wednesday. 

There were no new cases yesterday and people are complaining about this lockdown. They are saying it isn't really necessary. It is necessary if we are going to keep this thing under control. There are still areas of great concern in areas to the north and west of the city. I live on the east but I am not feeling complacent or smug. I know there have been people in and out both ways from the places of concern. Someone in the next street teaches at a school which is in the centre of the secondary cluster. 

I am one of the fortunate ones I suppose. My day-to-day social life is pretty limited. I have worked from home for many years. Of course I am disappointed that a couple of things I was expecting to go to have been cancelled but I can live with it. It doesn't bother me in the least that I can't go and stand in a crowded bar with an alcoholic drink in my paw. I have never done that and never will.  I know it bothers other people and I am sorry they apparently don't have other ways of entertaining themselves. 

It is time to teach children other ways of entertaining themselves. MsW is delighted to have been sent home from school. She won't go back now until next year. There will be work to do. ("Loads of it" according to her.) Her father won't be going anywhere. They should be able to get away for Christmas. They have a cabin booked in a fairly remote coastal spot. MsW's only concern is that they won't have enough to read but, apart from that, they have things to do. None of those things rely on a screen. When I asked if she would miss communicating with her friends this year she just shrugged,

"No, not really. I like them a lot but they can wait until I get back."

They will accept this. She is popular, the more so because the others know they can rely on her when she is there. There is no need for her to be constantly texting or doing whatever else it is they do. She will catch up on their news when she returns. 

And the big thing is that she is completely confident about all this. The quiet doesn't seem to worry her at all. She has things to do and she is delighting in being home with just her father for company. 

Mind you, she did call me yesterday asking me how to do something. Apparently I still have my uses!