27 December

Still feeling rough

I guess this is like a diary entry. I’ve already put had this bug for probably more than two weeks. I think I caught it in a meeting that I went to, there were a lot of people I didn’t know there and at least one was coughing. I’ve tested negative again for covid, so I think I’ve caught something that must be doing the rounds. Lots of other people I know have it too. I feel I might be responsible! Symptoms include a sore throat, a cough which has really gone on my chest, and feeling shivery.

It’s only when I feel like this that I wonder how tiny viruses and bacteria can have such an affect on animals and humans. There must be a lot of them, and as your body tries to fight back does it release toxins? Bacteria and viruses try and get inside your cells and replicate, and your body tries to kill and expel them, but I don’t understand all the physiology. I just wish I was a cat and could sleep through feeling ill!

Still negative

Spending time worrying about whether I have covid means I have not really thought about all the other bugs out there. They can be transmitted differently, for instance by touching surfaces. I think covid is spread more by breathing in droplets.

Anyway, bam! I have got a bad cold or virus, and as many of these haven’t been around as much because people were not interacting or being in close contact with one another. We are all more susceptible to the risks of other diseases now. You might have immunity to one illness, but if you are not in contact with it frequently then it can be worse when you get it again. What fun! Sniffles…..

Anxiety

Same drawing repeated and coloured. Toooo Close (too close) in red as if a neon sign was lit against a bright green (viral) background. Duplicated to get a feeling of crowded closeness. No one wears a mask. All have faces with staring eyes, All on about the same level so their breathing is near to each other. Title ‘Anxiety 4’,i did three previous sketches.

Excellent Blog Post from a Bike-rider and Occupational Therapist in a COVID Unit

“COVID cases are on the rise again and I just finished another tour of duty on the COVID units. Most of my patients this week were not vaccinated. I was vaccinated in December and January. While it is true that I am now magnetic, that’s just my personality and I was that way before the […]

Excellent Blog Post from a Bike-rider and Occupational Therapist in a COVID Unit

I saw this on my friend Martha’s blog and wanted to share it because the misinformation and strange ideas about the vaccines are really dangerous. I am fully vaccinated and hope that if you can get it you do get it. I know that it’s not available everywhere but it should be shared worldwide to try and fight the dreadful virus.

A virus isn’t a person….

Viruses don’t care about people because they are barely alive, it’s possibly not even alive. It’s just a shell surrounding a strand of RNA. When it attaches to receptors on a cell this gets into the cell and makes copies of itself so that new viruses are made.

Viruses don’t think, they are tiny. Saying that they attack people is like saying a thumb tack attacks your feet when you stand on it. The pain happens but it wasn’t caused by the thumb tack but by you for not looking at what you are doing.

Attacking, war, invading, fighting, phrases that anthropomorphise the virus. Making it sound like a human invader. But it’s just in the environment. It gets passed on through contact between humans. On your hands, if you cough or sneeze, on surfaces. Wearing masks and sanitising your hands are there to prevent it being passed on. Getting a vaccine will help you and help others. But the virus is not jumping on people and attacking them. We, us, humans are the way it travels….

Vaccine

Today was second vaccine day. On a cold afternoon I went to a health center for it. It was probably colder and wetter than it was twelve weeks ago. It was certainly very windy.

It was great to get inside, everyone was socially distanced. People were seated around the edges of the room but I was ushered straight through after having my temperature taken. I think that was because I was on my second jab so they had already got my details.

A couple of minutes later I was being asked which arm I wanted the jab in. The nurse said ‘sharp scratch’ but to be honest I didn’t feel anything. After utting on my coat I went to sit with a group of people sitting a couple of meters apart. Ten minutes later, with no obvious side effects, I was allowed to go.

I went shopping on the way home. I feel fine, just an achy shoulder, and that might just be the pain I sometimes get in my frozen shoulder. Onwards and upwards. I hope the world can roll out the vaccine everywhere, not just in rich Western countries.

#30daysketchbookchallenge (monthly)

February starts with a continuation of the #30daysketchbookchallenge. Instead of a daily challenge we are being asked to do something on a monthly basis. I could have spent far more time on this. The whole month in fact. But I just decided to draw a simple daisy design. Perhaps the centre is reminiscent of a covid19 particle. You decide….

Not that bad…

Lockdown, I can only go out for exercise and do essential shopping.

But when you think about it, it’s not that bad. I’m not stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere with no one to talk to. I am warm, I have food, I cn talk to people on the phone or online. I might be getting a bit bored. But it’s not like in the past, when I was a child. On Sundays everywhere was closed. No one that worked in simple, low paid jobs, could afford a car. Very few eople had tv’s and there was only one channel and a few radio stations. Computers didn’t exist except in universities or in the armed forces. The air was dirty and polluted, coal fires were the norm to heat houses. It was a different world.

Now we are linked? Possibly too much. But if we stay away from each other as much as we can? Things might just get better…

What to do for New Year’s Eve.

I guess we won’t be going anywhere this New Year’s eve. And yet that’s not a bad thing. Usually we visited friends to get away from the noise at the pub across the road. They were always rowdy and played very loud music that had such a loud base beat that it shook the house. Dum dum ddiiddi dummmm.. Each year seemed to get worse. I didn’t complain because that’s what people do.

So what shall we do, we might go for a walk in the afternoon if it’s not too icy. I think it would be nice to find our scrabble set, or a chessboard. I do sound like an old fuddyduddy, but I just want to be cautious. Virus news is that the infection is escalating. I’d rather stay in and be safe….