It’s Day 372 of the lockdown. The sky seemed bluer today. No I didn’t see it if that’s what you’re wondering. I now live vicariously through all my friends’ sunset photos on Instagram.
I found myself looking at old photos on my feed and reminiscing about running. Come to think of it…. I don’t remember what it’s like to even wear shoes anymore. All I’ve been rocking are my Crocs plus these three pairs of Falke hiking socks that I found at the back of my sock drawer. I still remember the day I rediscovered those socks. It brings a smile to my face when I think back to that moment. It was early days into the lockdown when energy was high, everyone was cleaning out cupboards, scratching things off their to-do lists, reading books and baking banana bread. Those were simpler times. We had so much hope.
Come to think of it… I don’t recall the last time I wore underwear. I now live in my old road race t-shirts and got used to the comfort that comes with free-ballin’ in sweatpants. It doesn’t even bother me anymore when they get stuck to the inside of my thigh after a 3hr long Microsoft Teams workshop – my sweatpants not my nut sack… just to be clear.
We’ve all had our suspicions that lockdown was going to be extended again. Now that we’re 17 extensions deep, I’m rooting for us to get to 20. We have a pool going at the office and Jono was pissed when he lost his R500 after we went past round 13. It’s good – I never liked him anyways. He never brought cake on his birthday when we were still allowed to go to the office, the cheapskate. He’s gonna have to figure out some other way to buy toilet paper. Never play with your essentials fund my bru.
Even the daily SMS from Government is getting stale. They’re not even trying anymore. No more short message of hope. All we get now is “Stay Home. A msg from Government”. Create a meme or something. Come on Cyril.
So many people are celebrating their second lockdown birthday – I saw on Facebook. At least Takealot deliveries are allowed again. It’s pretty cool that they’re using drones to do it now. I actually want to get a drone. I think I have enough eBucks saved up. I’m gonna buy one, stick a pencil to it, ring the neighbours door bell and then fly away quickly before they get there. Some toktokkie will be hilarious. It will actually make a mooi TikTok vid. The first person I’m going to get is Hajji Ali up the road. Before lockdown he could barely walk up the road to the mosque. But I caught him going for a jog that one morning early after Fajr in the lockdown! Let’s see if you can run to the door fast enough now.
Imagine if all of that was actually true, bwahahahaha. Clearly lockdown is getting to me. At least I know the creative writing spark wasn’t lost. Who am I kidding, I’ve been training for this lockdown situation for years now. We haven’t even made a dent in my toilet paper stash. I have so many deodorants and toothpaste that my toiletry cupboard looks like a shelf at Clicks. And remember that wasn’t even bought when everyone was panic buying.
I drove my car for the first time last weekend when I went to fetch my kiddo. I’m so glad they relaxed the visitation regulations for divorced parents. We’ve got to celebrate these small victories that allow us to live somewhat of a normal life in this very strange time. I hope everyone out there has been holding up well and coping with lockdown (and it’s extension). Please take care of each other and, if you are by the means, please help out family, neighbours, friends or whomever is in need. It’s gotten very tough out there and we need to stick together.
Working situations have adapted dramatically. Everyday I get to live out my dreams of rolling out of bed and straight onto a call sans pants. Don’t even lie, I know you’ve done it at least once.
For those of you who aren’t required at work and have an extended holiday while earning a full salary… I hate you!
The rest of us have been working even harder than normal. I ran into a colleague at the supermarket and he admitted that he can’t wait to get back to the office so he can relax. Lol. Seems like office hours are a thing of the past.
Even trying to be romantic has taken on different levels with tech. No, get your filthy mind out the gutter – I’m not talking about that. Anyways, the “pornhub free week” that everyone was rejoicing about isn’t even free – you still have to put your credit card details in and if you forget to cancel, you’ll get charged. It’s true, my bra Andrew showed me the charge confirmation.
But getting back to what I actually wanted to talk about, keeping the romance going during lockdown is a challenge. Especially, since those in relationships have now been thrust into a weird long-distance situation. Just last weekend I had a Date Night where we both queued up the same movie, hit play at the same time and the ensuing text commentary was hilarious. Also couples training sessions via video calls have been pretty cool. Turns out, I need an accountability partner when it comes to strength training else I’d just live off hot cross buns and do nothing. Back to the couch for me.
Our workouts are pretty hardcore. They were designed by Coach Simon from RootedInDirt and consist of kettlebell movements targeted at improving running strength. So hopefully, when lockdown finally ends, I would’ve fixed some weak areas in my running. We’ve added Yoga as well into the mix every other day, making it a pretty well rounded lockdown training regime.
Alhamdullilah, I can say that I’m very fortunate and still feel pretty connected into the world. I’ve been trying to look at this whole situation with a different lens. There’s some great opportunities to just slow down, be present and in the moment. It’s actually been great.
We’ve been wasting less, eating together as a family, talking more and even getting more spiritual as the days count down towards Ramadaan. All while in sweatpants 🙂
Stay safe everyone. Look after yourselves and each other.
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