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Day 16: The last day of Level Three

I catch up with several people online. We are all looking forward to moving into Level Two tomorrow, even the more introverted ones.

We are planning a quick surprise trip tomorrow to my home town to reunite our children with their grandparents. They have missed each other greatly. Zoom hasn’t worked for my kids, they only last a minute or two on a call with family, but they have been asking and asking when they can go to Whanganui, and when is it okay to hug Grandpa again?

The government reports zero COVID-19 cases again. This doesn’t stop a lot of fearful posts about social distancing etc on Facebook. Understandably many people will be anxious about venturing out again.

After almost 9 weeks in isolation I am more than ready to get out there. Whilst my time in lockdown hasn’t all been bad, it hasn’t been a cake walk either. I am looking forward to moving about freely, seeing my friends again, hugging my family. If there is one I have learned through all of this, it is that am not designed for the life of a hermit.

I am however, very grateful that New Zealand is on its way to stamping out the virus. This has come at a huge sacrifice to the livelihoods of many, and we will have to deal with effects of this for a long time to come.

The need to shop locally has been highlighted like never before for me, and I plan to make future purchases with even more care and deliberation. If the skies in Delhi and LA can clear and the canals of Venice return to blue, we have been shown how the collective actions of individuals can impact the environment for better. My family plans to double our efforts to reduce our waste and carbon footprint.

Mostly, I think I need time to process this whole event. It’s not until I get distance that I can see the lessons learned during a situation, and this has been an event of Biblical proportions.

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