Rumination: Collapsing the Bubble

The Following is For Reference Only.

Pandemic Thoughts - April 2022 

More than 25 months on from the World Health Organization declaring a global pandemic, we cannot really allow ourselves to think that it’s over, as there’s been no further declaration made as such, but the reality of the situation is that the spread of Covid-19 and the risks that it poses have fallen far down the list of issues and anxieties in the modern world, to be replaced by a burgeoning global economic crisis and an open conflict in Europe that shows no signs of abating, while the behaviours of so many are such as like the health crisis is now far from their minds. I’ll finally put myself into that bracket, after reserving judgement for so long, taking the opportunities presented to me during April 2022 to collapse my imposed bubble of isolation from general socialising that we maintained throughout the months, covering the first and second waves of Coronavirus infections of 2020, and through the spread of the Delta and Omicron variants in 2021, having somehow come out of the other end without having become unwell, and ready to face the hopefully diminished risks in person, now that covid can be largely regarded as an infection that would be unpleasant to get, rather than a matter of life and death. So, naturally, it’s with my Good Friends in Calderdale that I make my breakout, after they were so good to me after the last two years, twice making an excursion over the Pennines for evenings out in Manchester, not exactly hitting the town hard, but going into a crowded venue for the first time since Christmas 2019, on both occasions braving the throng in ‘Society’ on Barbirolli Square to get in the beer 'n' burgers, as the mix of Vocation Ales and Slap & Pickle’s creations are worthy of the trip in their own right (despite having closer and more convenient outlets in Hebden Bridge and Leeds). 

Social Breakthrough #1 at Society.

Of course, that’s not our main event, as the return to the social whirl really needs an event worthy of the change, and that comes from our attendances at the Bridgewater Hall to resume concert going after far too long away, and as we’re in Ralph Vaughan Williams’s 150th anniversary year, we have the BBC Philharmonic and The Halle giving us a symphonic double bill at either end of the month, with Sinfonia Antarctica and A London Symphony on the 9th and Symphony #6 and A Sea Symphony on the 30th, three of which I’d not seen performed, with the other being one of the most majestic statements in British Choral music of the 20th Century. Absolutely worth going out for, and running all the risks that we still have floating about, as choosing to be a social space, be it pub, restaurant or venue is entirely what it is, a choice, where everyone needs to just take regard at what everyone else is doing and adjust themselves accordingly, as young folk out on the town are going to feel they’re invulnerable, because youth, and the older folks will carefully do their things in their own space with whatever protection they might feel necessary, while we just find ourselves somewhere in between, feeling like the school and hospital environments we’ve worked in have exposed us to enough already. I really cannot express my gratitude enough to IH & AK for giving me a support bubble through this pandemic, even if I didn’t use it as much as ought to have when the call of the walking years kept me away, and they kept me fed and watered, entertained and exercised through this month’s visits too, testing out the favoured cocktail mixes and dinner recipes while I stayed over, and taking some trips out up and down the valley from Mytholmroyd to keep us honest in between, small mileages that I didn’t feel the need to add to my ongoing total, despite going over a few corners that I hadn’t visited before. 

Social Breakthrough #2 at Bridgewater Hall.

After that, there’s not much left to do that isn’t a return to how we were acting before we knew what a global pandemic what was all about, with work being the major environment where protective measure will remain in place, with mask wearing still being the rule about the site and the desks in the office remaining spaced out until our IPC tells us otherwise, though face covering in clinical areas could be the norm from now on as people get wise to the realities of spreading infection, just like hand cleansing got impelled into everyone’s behaviors to beat the waves of C-Diff and MRSA that we used to experience. My routine at St James's will keep me attending the ‘Hot’ wards and coming in relatively close proximity to the highly infectious, and for that reason, my mask wearing routine will continue beyond the walls of the hospital, as keeping covered up on public transport seems wise in the circumstances, and it’s a space that’s not so much one that people choose to be in, as it’s a necessity for most of those who find themselves there, which is probably why keeping it on when visiting the supermarket is the best course of action too, as you cannot be sure just how many people out there might still find that a Covid infection presents a risk to their well-being. Otherwise, there’s nothing else going on in the immediate future that is tempered by the considerations that we’ve been making over the last two years, and at the end of this month, I’m looking forward to a week away from home with My Mum, actual Spring Jollies for the first time since 2019, not travelling too far abroad as I’ve had local-ish plans on my slate for two years, not approached at all in 2020, and eventually junked in 2021 as circumstances got in the way, and thus a trip into Calderdale will give us proximity to my friends in the locality, her friends in Skipton and to My Sister’s family in Bolton, so that we might have a renewed sort of social whirl of our own, going forward into the Spring. 

Otherwise, as the Pandemic retreats from view, we look elsewhere at the news and see the fallout from ‘Partygate’, as fines are issued to multiples of Downing Street staffers for many drinks parties being held in breach of 2020’s lockdown restrictions, which even sees the Prime Minster and the Chancellor of the Exchequer being issued fixed penalty notices for breaching the rules that they had imposed on the nation, not that they look like they’ll be resigning any time soon, as shame seems to be a rare commodity in politics these days, as an insincere apology seems to be the only preferred response nowadays. It’s a spectacularly grotesque failure of leadership, of course, and one that shouldn’t really surprise us anymore, but it’s particularly galling to see so little of the anger that spilled out back in January, with the MPs seeming to close ranks around those in charge, and honestly claiming that it would be unwise to have a change of leadership in the face of the Cost of Living Crisis and the War in Ukraine, as if they’re completely unaware of the Norway Debates of May 1940, when the government of the day did exactly the same thing in far more dire circumstances than we find ourselves in right now. Ultimately, I have no real faith in Those Who Would Govern Us in this situation, but I wouldn’t in any other one either, and it’s worth pondering the thought that if we hadn’t had the absolutely suicidal General Election in December 2019, we’d have had a completely different complexion of governance over the last two years, and would be due a fresh election in June so that we might be able to pass a swift judgement on what has gone on before, rather than being stuck with what we have in charge until deep into 2024, managing our crises in a manner that teeters on the edges of  indifference and incompetence. 

Then there’s war and all the horror that that entails, as Ukraine continues to suffer, with the conflict having not quite become a quagmire or a stalemate after more than two months, but as the Russians shift from a general offensive to focusing solely on the Donbass region in the east, which they’ve been illegally occupying for 8 years, we see that the indiscriminate warfare meted out on the Ukrainian people has already led to massacres and war crimes, which gives lie to the declaration that this was supposedly all about a forced regime change. It’s undoubtedly an absolute shit-show, which will not see any kind of resolution any time soon, which will prolong the suffering of many long into the future, as refugees flee across Europe, and the scorched earth tactics and shelling of settlements by the Russian armed forces destroy lives and livelihoods across the country, while also hardening the resolves of ethno-nationalists across other central European nations, demanding a renewed sort of cultural conformity in the face of a Russian threat that is much more real than perceived, now. If there’s one positive to draw from it all, that’s the restored purpose of NATO, and the desire of the non-aligned nations of Europe to wish to be a part of it in the future, but that’s rather more offset by the oil and gas crisis that threatens so many in the EU who are dependent on imports from Russia, which are yet to be influenced by the programmes of economic sanctions, or by the fact that Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat and rapeseed oil, and the inevitable disruption to those supplies could result in a global food shortage that could afflict many more people than the conflict itself ever could. 

So, that’s my last batch of monthly Pandemic Thoughts, as trying to get my head around the state of the modern world is frankly overwhelming when trying to maintain a blog that’s meant to be solely for fun stories of my walking career, and anyway, a personal perspective on a pandemic is one thing to create, but that of living through an economic crisis and a war situation is one for wiser heads than mine, and do we really want to be sitting here and reporting as things get worse, when it really would be so have been so easy for none of is to have unfolded in the first place? That’s why I’m a hospital worker and walking blogger, and not a cultural commentator or politician, and all my further insights, whatever they might be, will come when this walking season and year come to their end, as from now on all I can see is me repeating myself a lot (which I’ve done a lot of already) and getting increasingly dejected as the weeks and months go by (predictably enough), so as we look forward, and not back anymore, I’ll let Talking Heads play us out for the time-being... 

EDIT: A week after posting this, the WHO stated their best estimate on the death toll of the Pandemic, increasing their previous tally of 5 million, who died directly because of a Covid infection, to a total in excess of 15 million people globally, when factoring in those who died for other reasons because of disruptions to healthcare provision, and who probably never had their infection properly acknowledged or reported (and it’s probably far worse than that), and it’s a sobering thought to consider that even with the advances in modern medicine and global communication, we’ve still been flying as blind in the face of disease these last two years as the world did in the Influenza pandemic of 1918-19. 

Next Up: There are new stations and destinations to seek out in South Yorkshire.