Scottish Borders in Lockdown - A-Z Blogging Challenge 2021
Recording My Everyday Life - A Picture for Future Generations
E for Exercise, Education and Events
I miss my weekly Walk it Group, where we did walks around the village and further afield, always ending up at a cafe for more chit chat and a convivial drink and goodie. But that of course stopped.
As per Covid guidelines, I began with regular walks near my home and watched the trees change from bare branches in March to full verdant green in late April. But however pleasant, that route began to pall and one day I was so desperate to walk by water, so I went further than usual for a riverside walk and some different photographic views - I am a keen photographer. Unfortunately this activity has been hit by increasing arthritis problems - and how I miss it - one of the few activity we could actually do in Lockdown!
EDUCATION - my granddaughter in her final year of primary school missed out on all the fun end of year activities because of Lockdown - the outings, the dance, their concert, their final assembly, their final class photograph - and the excellent transitional programme to ease the move from a school of 175 pupils to the High School with its 920 students.
A new phrase of "blended learnng" entered the English language as children learnt at home via online lessons. Scottish Borders Council had supplied children with their own school lap top - it seemed an extravagant move when the policy was first introduced, but it came into is own in Lockdown, with each student having their own vital piece of technology - unlike in many other areas.
Fortunately granddaughter was so desperate to return to school in mid August, she took to the High school like the proverbial duck to water - loved it - the new challenges, new subjects, making new friends etc. So the second Lockdown four and a half months later has been another blow.At the moment we are on target for full time school returning after the Easter break.
EVENTS - so many events have been hit by Lockdown - sport, live music (pop and classical), theatre, cinema, local festivals etc. etc. Last year in May 2020 a community picnic was planned in my village to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two in 1945. Instead a short simple yet moving ceremony was held at the War Memorial, watched by a small but socially distanced crowd, with a trumpeter, playing the Last Post, followed by us observing the two minutes silence and ending with a piper playing a lament.
I thought of my father who landed at Omaha Beach just after D Day and fought at the Battle of the Bulge, my uncle Harry who was rescued by the small ships off Dunkirk and my Uncle Charles, held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese.
Onto F for Family & Friends, A Family History Blitz , and More
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I do hope your grand daughter gets to rejoin her physical classroom and we have an uneventful rest of 2021.
ReplyDeleteI have been absolutely hopeless at getting exercise even though we could dive to the beach in 15 mins. I love your walking locations...much more appealing than suburban streets. How challenging the past 12+ months have been for the kids, and their parents and teachers. It’s wonderful that she’s adapted so well.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue - it's been a busy week for me so I'm just getting back to looking at everyone's blog posts. And I've yet to write mine for next week - eek! Exercise - I am trying to be good. Thank goodness for my walking buddies - my sister-in-law and my dog Arwen, otherwise I would be a complete slob. I try to walk 10k steps a day but it hardly ever happens. More like 6-8k per day. Yes, I feel so sorry for the kids these days. It must drive them nuts to be stuck at home all day. Seeing people on a screen is just not the same. We have been very lucky here in Queensland. While I haven't attended any events as such, except the launch of an exhibition at our gallery last week, we are pretty free to still get out and about. My daughter nearly went mad trying to schedule a baby shower - once last year and again early this year. Both had to be cancelled at the last minute due to COVID lockdowns. It's just about impossible to organise formal gatherings.
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