I’m a bit slow this week. This virus thing has thrown everything
into turmoil. Whole countries have been shut
down, schools, Universities, public gatherings, museums, sporting events, concerts
and flights have been cancelled depending on where you live. Locally, our big winter
event, Dark Mofo has been cancelled for this year and so has the Victorian Grand
Prix, even though the various racing teams have already arrived, because at
least some members were testing positive. My sister has cancelled her upcoming
visit – the thought of mixing and mingling in an international airport when she
already has asthma is a risk she can’t take. There’s been nothing like this
since World War 2. Not that it's all been
gloom and doom. The panic -buying of toilet paper has caused some amusement and
the “The Guardian” has been running recipes for using up all that stuff you
presumably now have cluttering up your pantry.
Whatever will we do with all that toilet paper?
 |
| Don't worry folks and please don't send us any toilet paper, this is joke, although eBay has asked people to stop posting real toilet paper ads online |
This latest crisis also masks positive developments such as
NewsCorp finally acknowledging that Climate Change is real, and that it is due
to human activity; the massive tree planting efforts currently underway in
places as diverse as Scotland – 22 million already planted well ahead of
schedule with more on the way, and Pakistan has planted over one billion trees towards its ambitious target of ten billion trees. The Murray River, Australia’s
largest, finally has some water in it again. Not that all our other problems
have gone away – the loggers are still active in what remains of Victoria’s
forests, aid to bushfire victims is still slow in coming, as are the COVID .19 testing booths, and the
AAP, Australia’s privately owned news wire service is to be closed after 85 years. However, underneath all this, and I hope I am
right about this, I thought I detected a slight shift in mood. Could it be that
the virus and other disasters have made us consider other values besides the economy and the making of money, and to focus a little on things like neighbourliness and good humour under pressure?
It’s a bit early to tell and I’m not holding my breath, but as I said, I am
hoping.
Meanwhile, if you are
sick, we wish you a very speedy recovery and if you are in quarantine or self -isolation,
we hope you have a lot of good books or at least a very good internet connection.
A big thank you to
all the frontline personnel – doctors, nurses, cleaners, hospital staff etc. and
also the people in the backroom doing tests or developing a vaccine. Special thanks posthumously to Dr Li Wengliang who died of the virus at age 34 after alerting the world to its presence,
virulence and lethality.
 |
| ....and don't forget to wash your hands! |
-Photo by Online
Marketing on Unsplash
Comments