Living in times of corona

As a child, I had a fantasy: being locked in the Bijenkorf. And preferably on Saturday at 5:00 PM because then I had a whole evening and the entire Sunday (in my time, there was no shopping Sunday yet) ahead of me. I once wrote an essay about it where I could try on the most beautiful clothes, all the fitting rooms were free, I could do couple diving in the beds covered with pillows, and of course, I would have dinner with the famous hazelnut meringue cake.

As soon as the idea started to move towards reality, it seemed a bit less interesting. Because couple diving is not fun alone, breakfasting with cake makes you feel sick, and what good are nice clothes if no one else sees them?

Corona feels like that too. How often do I have a day with nothing and an empty agenda? Just me and my laptop, no events, mandatory dinners, but only the essence. Your loved ones around you and the rest of the world at a distance. Also, the race against the clock in the morning, filling the lunch boxes, oh yes, your gym clothes, and oh, you have to bike because you need to go to homework class, all of that is just not happening. It seemed wonderful to me. And now it's here, and I feel displaced. Lost in translation. It's quiet on the street, I don't hug my favorite neighbor when I run into him while walking the dog. We keep an awkward distance. My children are already bored, and in a strange way, I long for Friday at five because then it's the weekend, and this situation feels a bit more normal than on Monday morning. Then it has to buzz, sizzle, I have to curse at the traffic jam, I have to swear at the traffic, sigh with relief when I flop down next to Adeline and get served a delicious latte from Lotte because she had some milk left over.

I have set up a home school slash office at the dining table. And we are now going to run hard as a break. Me with a friend and our children on bikes behind us. Just a bit of wind in our hair, worries aside. With a safe two-meter distance, that at least.

Strength to you, wherever you are.

Xxx, May