The politics of the pandemic are simply maddening.
Monsieur Macron, whom I have otherwise thought was doing alright, is now driving me crazy, with his inability to make a decision, his otherwise charming Frenchness, and his empty assurances that everything that constitutes l’art de vivre in France will return in mid-May, a promise that appears to include only “terraces”.
The reasons for France’s halting and half-hearted response to COVID, including its molasses-like, utterly bizarre vaccine program, are no doubt many and various and completely inexplicable.
So here we are, in lockdown #3. Most everything is closed, but this is not new, as nothing has really been open in more than a year, except for a few glorious weeks late last summer, when we actually dined al fresco in the courtyard of a restaurant or two. We are forbidden to travel farther than 10 km and are under curfew from 7 pm to 6 am. Easter travels were cancelled at the last minute, and, instead of a celebratory lunch with friends, I ate toast, alone, at home.
After a prolonged spell of rage yesterday, I decided that today things must be turned around, by dint of my will or whatever it took.
I loaded up the dogs in the car and drove to the one of the new and marvelous walking paths near my house (far less than the statutory limit, bien sûr!).
I have given up on aerobic exercise when I am with them. Instead, I put on my headphones and lose myself in an audiobook, which allows them to wander or scamper or chase other dogs and themselves, and, as in Poppy’s case, to “read the newspapers”, column by column, section by section, including the magazines and classifieds, as meanderingly as she wishes—sniffing here and there, marking her presence wherever it seems necessary, and checking out various, individual blades of grass.
The weather today was brisk and beautiful, bright and sunny. I stopped to take lots of photos and resolved that we shall spend time out of doors every single day. It is very hard to feel depressed and sorry for oneself with views like these, no?
Good post, Faith. Well done.
Marvelous photography!