Day 49
(Monday, 4th May 2020)
Today is the last day of our seventh week of isolation and social distancing. Seventh week! Wouldn't it be wonderful if it were the end of isolation and social distancing ...
When I started this blog series on 17th March, we were barely at the back end of Winter. Now here we are seven weeks from mid-Summer.
Today, 4th May, I thought was the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE75). More thorough checking of this with other sources, it appears I am wrong. It was 8th May 1945.
When I started this blog series on 17th March, we were barely at the back end of Winter. Now here we are seven weeks from mid-Summer.
Today, 4th May, I thought was the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE75). More thorough checking of this with other sources, it appears I am wrong. It was 8th May 1945.
There are now 3.5 million cases of coronavirus Worldwide and nigh on quarter of a million deaths, so I am not sure I'm ready to commemorate the end of the Second World War, 'VE75', which (I thought) occurred on 4th May 1945, but never mind. Some months ago, last year I think, it was decreed that it would be delayed to be included, on 8th May, in the Bank Holiday weekend of 8th to 10th May; that is next weekend. Regardless of the official dates, the important point of this post is that I'm still not sure I can cope emotionally with commemorating the death in the UK of 450,900 people during the 1939-45 conflict (and between 70 and 85 million Worldwide) at the same time as dealing with the fact that, in the UK, if deaths from Coronavirus, now a bit more than 28,000 in less than two months, were multiplied pro rata over six years, it would amount to over a million deaths! Now I know we are going to find a vaccine and maybe a treatment long before that time, but the point I'm making is that this has been an acute shock in a very short time scale to a population, which has become accustomed to a much easier and more comfortable life than was experienced at any time during the first half of the 20th Century.
We are in the midst of this crisis and, whilst the crisis to the country between 1939 and 1945, with such huge loss of life, must have been mind numbing, I cannot help the feeling that, even though the 'street parties' planned by the organisers for 8th May have officially been cancelled, we are in desperate need of some uplifting experience, a party and a get together. And some hugs. However, equally, whilst we are not through the Coronavirus pandemic yet, I cannot get my head round the thought even of commemorating the World War death tolls, not to mention the number of lives left with scars, both physical and mental, from WW2, let alone WW1. Although I will do so on Friday at 3 pm. It is, for me, nonetheless an emotional time, remembering, as I do each year on 11th November, the death of my Father's older brother in 1941 as well as my Father's own experiences, of being shot down and having to get back in the cockpit as an RAF fighter pilot, knowing that life expectancy wasn't too promising. My mother too was buried under rubble for up to three days after the worst night of the London Blitz. They were, undoubtedly traumatised by those experiences, let alone all the other challenges that our lives present, and had to live with their mental scars.
We may be coping in a typical British way, on the surface appearing cool and calm, but I'm afraid we have a long way to go before we can truly come to terms with the mind numbing numbers of casualties from COVID-19 over such a short space of time, in a national, nay global emergency that most of us have not experienced before. There is a deep seated sense of anxiety and fear on many levels, that no amount of cheering activities can truly remove ... until the cause of that anxiety is removed or at least significantly alleviated.
We are in the midst of this crisis and, whilst the crisis to the country between 1939 and 1945, with such huge loss of life, must have been mind numbing, I cannot help the feeling that, even though the 'street parties' planned by the organisers for 8th May have officially been cancelled, we are in desperate need of some uplifting experience, a party and a get together. And some hugs. However, equally, whilst we are not through the Coronavirus pandemic yet, I cannot get my head round the thought even of commemorating the World War death tolls, not to mention the number of lives left with scars, both physical and mental, from WW2, let alone WW1. Although I will do so on Friday at 3 pm. It is, for me, nonetheless an emotional time, remembering, as I do each year on 11th November, the death of my Father's older brother in 1941 as well as my Father's own experiences, of being shot down and having to get back in the cockpit as an RAF fighter pilot, knowing that life expectancy wasn't too promising. My mother too was buried under rubble for up to three days after the worst night of the London Blitz. They were, undoubtedly traumatised by those experiences, let alone all the other challenges that our lives present, and had to live with their mental scars.
We may be coping in a typical British way, on the surface appearing cool and calm, but I'm afraid we have a long way to go before we can truly come to terms with the mind numbing numbers of casualties from COVID-19 over such a short space of time, in a national, nay global emergency that most of us have not experienced before. There is a deep seated sense of anxiety and fear on many levels, that no amount of cheering activities can truly remove ... until the cause of that anxiety is removed or at least significantly alleviated.
Here, in an attempt to elevate the spirits a little, is Clemency Burton-Hill's choice of music for today, which is: 'Ellens Gesang III', D.839 ('Ave Maria') by Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Although this is a moving piece of music, as sung here by Barbara Bonney, from the singers perspective, I find this uplifting. It is Bonney's voice I admire. Her voice control and breath support, especially when entering a line at near zero volume with gentle crescendo from there, is in my books astounding. She can also diminuendo to almost nothing with equal ease. I could never tire of listening to her singing. I am in awe.
However you may be affected by anything I've written here, do let me know by leaving a comment below or, if you prefer not to, talk to a loved one, a friend or someone you trust.
However you may be affected by anything I've written here, do let me know by leaving a comment below or, if you prefer not to, talk to a loved one, a friend or someone you trust.
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