By Harry Bradley
The Easter holidays are finally here.
Driving test passed, a group of us planned to head to the beach for a few days camping and messing around. A long and welcome break from the intensity of school, Easter is a time for catching up with family and friends, chilling out and having some fun in the sun.
But I didn’t pass my driving test because it was cancelled. So was my trip to the beach and time out and about with friends.
My week this week was the same as last week and the same as the weeks ahead. Covid-19 is racing around the world whilst my life seems to have come to an emergency stop.
As someone on Twitter put it recently: “It feels like January, February and March were all different years.”
To me, April feels more like a whole new world, let alone a new year.
We’ve been on official lockdown since Monday, March 23. Sunday, March 22 feels like a lifetime ago.
April is a brave new world. Well, not so much ‘brave’. A trip to the supermarket feels like I’ve stepped into an apocalyptic movie. But a new world feels about right.
Yes, like everyone, everywhere, my Easter plans have come screeching to a halt.
The freedom of being able to get in a car and drive anywhere feels worlds away from the reality of not being able to leave the house.
Hope
But Easter is a time of hope, a time of new beginnings. Maybe our time away from the ‘old world’ will prove useful and beneficial.
The main road that I live on is suddenly quiet. But, strangely, the lack of noise is nice for a change.
The days are long and I have time to do things and that’s not bad either. Ever the optimist, I want to come out of quarantine and say that I actually achieved something.
I want to be able to look back on this weird time and say I actually did something. In some ways, this time feels like a gift and I don’t want to pass it up.
Daily workouts at home are structuring my day, and are a physical and mental reminder that I’m actually being productive.
So when I eventually get to take my driving test, and the car is packed for a trip to the beach with my mates, I won’t have wasted my days at home doing nothing. I’ll have read all the books I’ve wanted to read and I might be able to speak a little Spanish, ready for when we can travel abroad again.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Right now, that feels like a world away. I need to concentrate on the ‘now’.
And right now, my next goal is to win the annual Easter egg hunt with my brother. Whatever happens, at least we have chocolate eggs.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy Easter.
Stay safe.
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