Friday is our local market day, it’s a fairly regular thing that we meet friends for coffee then go off to walk round the stalls, buy our fruit and veg plus anything else that takes our fancy. So that’s what we did at the end of last week but it certainly wasn’t the usual fun morning. We wore masks of course but I had a reluctance to touch things. Usually I have a good rummage through the piles of clothes all at 5 euro or less, I’ve had some good bargains in the past, and I can never resist another pair of cotton shorts or cropped trousers. There wasn’t the usual buzz about the place, no stall holders shouting about their wonderful goods or encouraging people to take a look. Our regular fruit and veg man had no conversation and insisted I wear gloves to select my tomatoes and peaches.
We called in for wine on the way home, I love the place we visit down in the valley, it’s so pretty with flowers everywhere and the family of producers are really friendly. Again no conversation just thanks and have a good afternoon.
The whole experience knocked my confidence and it saddened me that another consequence of this damned virus is that it has taken so much joy from our daily lives.
In the UK I was fine with lock down and tolerated the weekly food shop, I don’t know why it has affected me more here. We voluntarily took 2 week quarantine when we arrived and I am happy spending days at home. In 3 weeks we have had no one inside our house and we have not been in anyone else’s. Perhaps I was naive to think that at least some part of life would be the same, so far it is all very different.
On a brighter note we joined friends for pizza that evening. 8 of us enjoyed drinks in an old square that was full of children running round and old people keeping an eye on them while chatting. Then lovely food sitting outside a small restaurant in the medieval centre with well spaced tables and the old houses crowded above us. It all felt a bit like a beautiful film set and made me feel a little bit more confident. I hope this coming week is positive for us all.
I did a post on confidence only yesterday. Yes - I find mind has wavered too - I was reasonably happy with being isolated - plenty of Zooms with friends, good books to read, a bit of gardening. But now we are allowed to go out a little bit - I find it all very strange and I feel as though I am in a foreign country - nothing is as it should be. I hope for all our sakes that this feeling passes if and when things get back to normal.
ReplyDeleteGlad ro hear that at least you had a nice meal out.
Oh dear. Are we all reaching that point where we feel we are existing rather than living?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you didn't have a good experience in the market, hopefully over time things will get back to more of the old 'normal' although I can't see it happening any time soon. It makes you realise what you value and what's important, doesn't it? Take care. x
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