1001 Stories
Back to All Stories

#112 Ann They were with us too

Ann

It’s five a.m. Woken by the sun shouting through the curtains. Hooray for the sun. Boo for the hour. Catnapped a bit, read for a bit. Put some washing out while the sun shone. Felt quite the housewife, to have it out so early. Zoom dance workshop at ten a.m. Something new, worth a try. It was interesting, having to discover and create movement, to narrate four verses of a psalm. I was challenged by having to go straight into movement, without exploring the words first. I guess that’s because I am a words person first, before anything else. Oops, disaster. Lost internet connection. But I bravely found my way back into the workshop, covered in confusion. A newcomer in so many ways! In the afternoon we went to Horsforth for a birthday barbecue. Husband John’s first drive out – other than for medical appointments – for three months, so that was exciting. It was a great “bubble gathering”. Probably too big: there were fourteen of us, all close family. But hey, we were in the fresh air – and we were together, at last. We took photos to send to siblings in Israel, Germany and France, so that they were with us too. What a good day.

Precis

From the beginning of May 2020, the UK government began easing the restrictions around lockdown, and people began cautiously opening their doors and venturing back out onto the streets and into open spaces. There was still much confusion about how safe it was to do this, with wildly differing views from both government spokespeople, the scientists – and the people themselves. In some ways, this was a more stressful time than the previous lockdown. In the following extracts, company members reflect on these changing days, with 31 days recorded, spanning May and June. Edited by Barney Bardsley