friday excitement in the time of a pandemic

When we're living in a considerably smaller, constrained world, Friday fun or yay it's the weekend-feelings are also very different for what used to be normal.

What started off like a plan for a walk to the suburb center (where the commuter trains and suburb buses station lays, five minutes bus ride from home, 20-30 minutes walk depending on speed and weather) to go to the pharmacy and do some shopping, turned into a five hour project.



Before Corona-bus was a concept - only five months ago, this was a great option for a bit of everyday exercise. Now it's basically a must, if you don't have a bike or a car. I've never been a hypochondriac, but just the thought of stepping onto a bus, not to mention a train, or someone's car actually, gives me the creeps. So walking it is.

Said and done. Left home at 10.15 am. It wasn't suppose to rain until late afternoon, so we had plenty of time to get there and back until that happened.

Or so we thought. Because 10 minutes later the skies opened, and little mum and I had to take shelter under a roof outside a dentist's surgery. For at least 45 minutes, until the rain calmed down.

When we got down to the center it begun to drizzle a bit again. Popped by the pharmacy - surely there must be something better that will heal that darn armpit-heatwave-induced-fungal-infection-which-stopped-me-using-all-the-pretty-dresses that the initial powder, followed by the same brand cream, haven't helped much after a week's usage? I got another cream, and if that helps as quickly as it's said to, I must wonder why non of the pharmacist recommended that one in the first place... - did some grocery shopping, and then the skies opened again.



Perhaps we could pop by a little cafe for a vegan fika with social distancing? I hadn't been toa cafe since March 13. It was a mixture of anxiety and excitement to step into one again. Can't say I was impressed by neither the social distancing measures the cafe proprietor had taken, nor how the guests behaved. But we managed to put chairs out and create our own little stay away-corner of 2 metres distance. Obviously the vegan options were poor, but the chocolate ball and most of all their own almond hook was really nice.



So we stayed there until the rain had calmed down again. Then headed home. We came half way, at the church, when the skies opened up a third time. And spend another at least 45 minutes under a roof there. (Click on the image to see and hear the rain on Flickr)



Only a marginally less granny toodler style outfit.

On the way home we passed the thai food truck, which apparently now will close for  the holidays until August 9. A plantbased phad thai with tofu was called for. I'm glad the paper bag it came in didn't fall apart until I got home. Because yes, obviously the rain had began pouring down again by then.



It was a lovely lunch/dinner though. After a bit of reading I decided to take a nap. Woke up 4 hours later... Had a cup of tea and sandwiches, watched some TV, went to bed again, read, listened to a guided meditation. And slept 9 more hours. I never used to be able to get to sleep or sleep well after having a nap, long or short. But apparently these are extraordinarily exhausting times. And this was an even more exhausting day. What used to be a simple walk with errands that should have taken about 1,5 hours took 4,5 hours with added angst.



This was also the day when I inaugurated the Marimekko Unikko rain poncho I got a year ago. That's right. The heavy rains haven't been around a lot since then, or I haven't been out in them. It was a good rain coverage (might have been even better without carrying a Kånken and a tote of grocery shopping though...).

Plus I feel a bit like Urcellen Ellen, a cute, educational Swedish children's TV-program for us growing up in the seventies, wearing it. I guess it goes well with the granny toddler style sported these days.

And that's how an exciting Friday looks in the time of a pandemic.

One day at a time, people, one day at a time.