Coronavirus Stories - Reaching Out From Isolation

Edited BY G P Kennedy                                   Ellie - Milan, Italy  Things have been changing, even just judging from the attitude of people to the lockdown. While it is over, it has become a source of inspiration and reflection. The Sozzani Foundation is having an exhibition of the drawing works of artist Kris Ruhs (American living in Milan) titled Diary from a confinement. I have to say it resonates completely with how I saw that time in which we couldn't go out and were scared to panic.    It is also a time to capitalize on different companies' relationship with the lockdown.  This company is trying to stay in the public's mind by reminding of their dedication and sacrifice during that time.    The St. Hildegard Society of Oblates in the tiny town of Ganna (near the Swiss border) is trying to open a shop to sell their crafts and artisanal jar and...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Graeme - North Texas, U.S.   Howdy – today is the sixth anniversary of our family moving to Texas, from England. We will be celebrating the Texas way with a heaping helping of the best barbeque (smoked meats, sides and fixins to the uninitiated) in North Texas from the awesome pit crew at Panther City BBQ.    We had a five-year plan when we moved – a list of things we thought were achievable which included a wish list column, too. We achieved a bunch of things in the plan including the wish list. We own a great house with a pool and plenty of garden space to live with two big dogs. Wish list items fulfilled.    Some of the stuff we supposed to be easier – throw some money at it, follow processes and everything will fall into place = have proven to be immeasurably more difficult than planned. I am talking mainly about immigration. After years of lawyers, both scrupulous and un-, and tens of thousands of dollars we are permanent residents on ...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Sally - London, UK  Hi its me again, still in lockdown, still not working, still going slightly crazy and still wondering when all this will end?    More than 45,000 people in the UK have died after testing positive for coronavirus, with almost 300,000 cases confirmed, which seems crazy when this week our Prime Minister finally admitted to BBC News that “lessons to be learned” from his handling of COVID-19 and that he would have done thing “differently”.     He said “we didn’t understand the virus in the way that we would have liked in the first few weeks and months.  And I think, probably, the single thing that we didn’t see at the beginning was the extent to which it was being transmitted asymptomatically from person to person” Which maybe will explain why the wearing of face masks have only been made mandatory 5 months after this pandemic fully hit the UK.   A typical English heading out on vacation  So the new rules ...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Gul - Istanbul, Turkey TIME GOING TOO FAST  We ' re already halfway through  the summer and I don't want it  to  end! How can we stop that feeling of things going too fast? Usually Mike and I are torn between like doing nothing on holiday or doing everything but this summer absolutely we’re doing nothing apart from swimming, listening music, chatting and walking a lot. Everything sounds perfect isn’t it? Wait until I check the news on my social media.    They say there are important health benefits connected with temporarily switching off, to help you to de- stress and unwind but I can’t switch off what’s going on in this country.    I don’t watch any manipulated news on the telly but why can not quit social media? Yesterday, Hagia Sophia Museum reopened as a mosque with a new name The Grand Mosque of Hagia Sophia - the precious 1500 years old mosaics covered by some ugly white curtains. Amazing marble flooring covered b...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Ian and Minako - Tokyo, Japan   We are both very well and hope everyone is enjoying summer!    The number of daily reported cases for Tokyo and the rest of Japan is getting more serious and reaching record figures, Tokyo having 366 on Thursday, the first time above 300 and the 7 day average moving up to 250. Total deaths in Tokyo increased by 2 to 328. Nationally there have been 29684 cases and 996 deaths.    Some 60% of the new cases are younger people, 20-30 age range but there has been an increase in the 40-50 range too and more cases on the outskirts of Tokyo not just the busy nightlife areas around Shinjuku. Japan’s second city, Osaka now regularly has over 100 cases per day.    The Tokyo Olympics were due to start this weekend with the opening ceremony on Friday 24 th so Thursday and Friday were public holidays making a 4 day weekend of celebration and sport. Of course, the Olympics have been postponed until the same time n...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Tassy - Karachi, Pakistan  The good news is that COVID related death rates in Pakistan seem to have tapered off a bit. After nearly three months there is space for non-COVID patients in hospitals. The R number that indicates how contagious the disease is is now 0.73% as compared to 1.5 % in May. This reassuring news however needs to be viewed with some degree of caution.   There is a sense of fear as to how the country will now tackle the upcoming events of Eid ul Adha next weekend. Eid ul Adha is one of two Eids that all Muslims celebrate every year. Unlike the earlier one a few months ago, which marked the end of the month of Ramadan or fasting, this one marks the advent of the Hajj or pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.  It is a festive time, and as people gather, it can potentially cause COVID cases to soar again. I do hope people here remain vigilant and mindful.  It remains a bit of a mystery how Pakistan has miraculously managed to keep mort...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Ellie - Milan, Italy   Sunday starts in my studio   Hello, world! On July 19 of year 1 of the COVID-19 era, being Sunday, the day for me started with some studio work. Today, this was technical, prep work. I am an artist, so this meant that my bathroom became off limits for anything else a bathroom is normally used for, as I am coating cyanotype fabric -- meaning soaking large pieces of cotton muslin in a yellow chemistry ----- that will make the fabric sensitive to light when it dries. This eventually will result in Prussian blue photographic prints, but for that, we will have to wait for another day. For now, it means the bathroom is currently a drying room and I will have to clean the floor with baking soda.    In my Lombard life, the things that have helped me the most to become rooted are succulents. Not sure how it started, but I became fascinated with them and accumulating them. Aren't they such a metaphor for life -resilient and lif...

Edited BY G P Kennedy   Sally...,and the baby - London, UK  02:05am  Good morning…. the baby, as usual, has woken up for a bottle of milk.  She is still in our room, before Covid 19 hit we found black mold in the nursery and the landlord wouldn’t sort it out. Then we went into full lockdown and for a few months people could not come into your house to do work, so to cut a long story short the baby is still in with us at 15 months old!  She is not the best sleeper and wakes 2-3 times a night, so we haven’t had a full night’s sleep in forever. She wouldn’t settle after the bottle and nappy change so came into bed with us.   06:25am  The baby is awake again which means we all are.  After 6 o’clock is good as she is usually ready to get up for the day between 5am and 5.30am.  We have a small Android tablet, which we will put CBeebies on just so we can get 30 minutes more sleep usually. The baby's room 07:00am  The baby and I are up for break...

Edited BY G P Kennedy Tassy - karachi, Pakistan  I woke up in the morning at 6 15 am, feeling rested. Before I get out of bed I usually spend a few minutes mentally going over the activities and chores that I had previously planned to do for the day. I got Mario out of my daughter’s room and took him out for a short stroll in the garden. Being a small dog- a Shih Tzu, and living in Karachi where walking outside the walls of your house is not the norm, a quick run for him around the garden usually suffices.   I drank my customary hot water with lemon and started with morning chores such as running the washing machine, planning meals for the day, and pottering in the kitchen. As normal I then rolled out my yoga mat and did my early morning practice of pranayama (yogic breathing exercises) and yoga. These days as I have fewer yoga students, I can enjoy the luxury of a longer yoga practice of my own. This sets the tone for my day, and energizes me. By this time my husband was...