The full horror of the rampant march of the delta variant is not totally unleashed, but it's certainly leaking around the seals. For a variety of reasons, including a mind-blowing lack of urgency in securing vaccines, along with penny pinching which led to the purchase of a cheaper but flawed version of a vaccine, and a piss-poor advertising campaign to alleviate hesitancy, Australia is wallowing at the bottom end of the world league tables of vaccine rollout and take-up.
This has seen a belated scramble to source vaccinations and a chaotic rollout of vaccines in a rushed and ill considered manner. This has bitten close to home, as Cassy eventually sourced an appropriate vaccine booking, only to have it cruelly plucked from her grasp at the 11th hour. This re-allocation of vaccines to higher priority groups and areas can be squarely laid back at the feet of the guilty party yet again: the federal government and their inertia and poor decision making due to complacency. After much angst and endless attempts to seek redress, she eventually secure another appointment, weeks after her original appointment was scheduled and leaving her vulnerable and unprotected in the meantime.
In saying that, we do still fully understand that these are incredibly minor problems compared to the hardship experienced elsewhere around the world. They truly are first world problems. The latest lockdown restrictions have, in fact, for me, been almost indistinguishable from my former recent life! My slow recuperation and rehabilitation has ensured a largely hermitic existence, one delineated by some in-house exercises and a long daily walk in the local area. Current lockdown rules allow just that! Admittedly, we aren't permitted to visit family members like we did before, nor visit restaurants, cinemas or shops which we'd do every now and then, but, essentially, it's business as usual!
Our afore-mentioned walk is not mammoth or unduly arduous, but it is reasonably long and quite challenging. We're lulled into blissful states in the opening stanza on the wide, flat pathways from our house on Merewether Beach to Dixon Park before getting a heart-starter up a sharp, puffing hill at The Cliff then a stroll to Bar Beach. The path rises slowly in gradient and difficulty through the carpark and up Memorial Drive before we sidestep right up a set of stairs to the foot of the Anzac Memorial Walk. We steel ourselves before advancing rhythmically and rapidly up these well-spaced flights which transport us ever upwards before arriving, slightly breathlessly, on the flat walkway which flies over the cliff on the way to Shepherd's Hill. A pause at the pillboxes by Chud's Chair, some pullups on the conveniently located handrail, then a journey back via the same route. Job done for the day!
In some type of "law" that seems ultimately to concoct events in the universal order in direct relationship to our ability to cope with them, we've experienced many deaths in our small circle lately, eerily timed to when restrictions on gatherings kicked in. So, to our dear family members and friends, vale, and we hope we get a chance to reminisce in some form when we're again able to gather.
Before the lockdown, we had some limited ability to host in homes, so we had a modified celebration for Mum's birthday with only five guest allowed. Sue wasn't able to join us due to work commitments, but luckily Helen and Jen could sneak away. We feasted on oysters and prawns before Cassy's delicious strawberry sponge for dessert, all washed down with champagne: little did we realise it would be the last time we could see one another for a while and into the foreseeable future!
We've continued to read countless titles: highlights have been further tales of Cato Kwong in Alan Carter's books along with the frustrating adventures of Quirke in Benjamin Black's series of books on the Irish pathologist. Lots of "one offs" in-between before we gravitate back to a series or two....
Oh, and how about those Olympics?! ( I'll leave this till next time, I think!)