Time Off
I bet people on Hive didn't realise I had taken some much needed time off. That's because I made use of Peakd's wonderful scheduling feature to schedule some posts for when I was away. People on Twitter definitely noticed that I wasn't my usual noisy self. I did pop in now and then to reply to messages though. I appreciate engagement, so I always want to engage with my people here :)
I was on the east coast of England since the weekend till yesterday. Minsmere Nature Reserve is a place that I had actually visited before, but a long time ago. I thought I was going somewhere new, but on arrival there I realised I'd been there before as certain landmarks jugged my memory. Actually everywhere I visited during the short break, I'd been before but during a different season a while ago. I'm going to dedicated a different post to that because I think it's quite interesting.
It was the perfect time away from being isolated at home. There are vast expanses to walk without meeting anyone. The nature reserve is actually quite popular, but are experiencing very low traffic due to the pandemic and people staying away.
Summer isn't usually the best time to experience these places normally. I'd recommend going either in early Spring or Autumn when you'd be treated to amazing colours everywhere. There were still some wild growing flowers in the meadows, which I enjoyed starring at while I ate my packed lunch.
There's a very nice stoney beach along the reserve. I'm not sure if the stones are naturally occurring there, or if they were placed there to protect the nature reserve from being eroded away by the sea.
This nature reserve serves avian wildlife primarily. As such, no dogs are allowed in the area. Most people that visit the park go there to watch and photograph birds. I was treated to a variety of butterflies, bees and other such flower loving insects. There were also human-loving insects, which were a little more welcoming than I would have liked ;)
I didn't take a camera with a macro lens, unlike the many professional grade equipment that I noticed people carrying. I was tempted to strike up conversations with people about cameras and lenses, which I'm sure would have been amazing. Geeks are geeks, no matter the geeky hobby. I didn't, however, since I was observing social distancing.
Social Distancing In East Anglia
Britain generally had one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19, compared to the rest of the world. Our closest coronavirus comrades are across the Atlantic. Unlike the United States, however, we have managed to bend the curve downwards and are now getting back to normal. It's one of the reasons why I was able to go on my East Anglia break in the first place.
I had wondered how we have been able to do this though. Since attitudes towards masks and social distancing in London, where the outbreak was worst, have been lax at best, I would have expected us to be similar to the US in that London should been bursting with new cases right now.
My trip outside London for the second time since the lockdown started was an eye opener. The first time was a day trip to a beach, so I couldn't observe how people were actually living.
In East Anglia, people were extremely responsible about social distancing. Young and old observed it on the streets, in shops, everywhere I looked. The place I stayed was a glamping site on a farm. This is the perfect social distancing accommodation in and of itself, but the land lords were exceptional in their adherence to the government's directives.
I drove there, and took a loo break at a pub on the way. I would have been perfectly comfortable to spend some time in that pub due to the social distancing provisions I observed there. The one-way entrance and exit. Even the trip to the loo was a one-way experience, during which I didn't have to touch a single thing apart from the water tap, and .. well, you know what :).
In the nature reserve as well, from the outdoor reception, to the path layout and signage, I felt really comfortable and safe the whole time. I don't think I've ever seen a cleaner toilet in my life - a public toilet that looked and smelt cleaner than mine at home that I clean everyday haha. Amazing!
Considering the main clientele of such a place consists of middle-aged and elderly folk, I guess that's to be expected. The population there is much older than the average in London, so it's more likely that each person has had personal experience of COVID-19 tragedy. That tends to calibrate one's attitude to this pandemic.
In normal times though, I find countryside folk to be more responsible and sensible anyway. Apart from mainly being older, they're usually more civilised than we are in the large cities. It's no surprise then that they'd take something like this very seriously.
So, what I think has happened is this. In the beginning, the whole country experienced an outbreak with London being the worst hit. However, the small towns and countryside all over the country helped halt the spread of the virus by being their naturally responsible selves, even without much leadership from above. This not only brought down the national numbers, it also helped curtail the numbers pouring into London.
So, Londoners, we have these small town folks to thank for the progress we've seen. So next time you see someone from the countryside, give them a hug to say thank you. Wait, actually, don't :D
Peace & Love,
Adé
Peace & Love,
Adé
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Thank you 🙏
You are welcome. 🙂
It is generally easier to maintain some distance in quieter country towns and villages. I'm happy not to be living in a city. I liked the sign using birds to measure distance. The butterfly looks like it's been a bit battered.
There was a swarm of bees nearby.. and it was competing with a bunch of bumble bees for the flowers. I wonder if they'd attacked the butterfly.
Butterflies look pretty fragile, so it would not take much to do that. No idea if bees would attack one. I find butterflies hard to photograph as they don't seem to stay still for long, especially if they see you moving.
No. No hugging. 🤪
Not even a little? lol.
I would probably have struck up a conversation while maintaining the appropriate distance.
I listed to a talk by one American doctor who talked about the possible reasons for the surprisingly low spread in many parts of the world that already had a pretty bad initial outbreak while having a low prevalance of antibodies in the population. He said that this could be caused by the very uneven susceptibility to the virus between different groups of people. Many if not most of the high-risk groups may have contracted the virus already, including healthcare workers, which would naturally slow down the spread of the virus. He thought things like using mask in public transport to prevent the spread of droplets when coughing or sneezing could further lower the R0 number to a level where the epidemic could die out sooner than we have expected.
Very interesting and makes sense. I'm picking my travel destination carefully now in case I get stuck there. It'd have to be a place I can tolerate for 6 months, preferably with no winter :)
Posh post on Twitter: