Fidler in the Hood: ‘It’s getting to be a lot like Christmas’
The lockdown certainly has had many positives.
Hi, is anyone out there?
Just when we were half-way through lockdown our leaders decreed an extension of ‘the curfew’ for another two weeks.
We are not half way there (at the time of writing), but feedback has been that it hasn’t been too bad, with positives coming out of it.
People are keeping in touch; the ‘funnies’ being circulated by WhatsApp provide some much-needed humour, and we are rather enjoying our isolation.
Household chores, which have been put on the back burner for ages, are actually being done, plus we are not completely isolated from the outside world.
Horst Mohr phoned from Germany to say he was back home, and has become something of a local hero there.
ALSO READ: Fidler in the Hood: ‘He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother’
His ‘escape’ from here seems to have spread faster than the dreaded virus.
He was asked by his friends and the local newspaper what it was like in South Africa, and if we were coping.
Horst had nothing but praise for South Africa, and spoke well of us.
I asked Horst when he was coming back.
He replied it was early days as he had to catch up on his washing and ironing, but hopefully, it would be in the not-too-distant future.
In an effort to lift folks’ spirits I phoned around to some of our friends.
Music at the ready, when they answered, I played a few tracks from a CD of Christmas music.
I told my ‘victims’ to stand by and proceeded to play ‘It’s Getting to be a Lot like Christmas’, ‘Jingle Bells’, and for good measure, ‘White Christmas’.
Some saw (or heard) the funny side to it, although ‘she who shall be not amused’ thought otherwise.
I reasoned that Easter had come and gone without a murmur, and that we had to have something to look forward to.
We are fortunate to have many wonderful friends, both in South Africa and world-wide.
Good friend, Kevan Pryor, who lives in a beautiful holiday resort in Brazil, has visited the Hibiscus Coast on a couple of occasions.
Formerly from Buckinghamshire, England, Kevan has lived in South America for more than 40 years, both in Argentina and Brazil.
As the owner of a popular pousada (hotel) in Buzios, similar to here, Kevan is having to take the knock with the lockdown affecting tourism in Brazil.
An ex-school teacher, he still has a love of Shakespeare, and wrote his own variation on a theme from Macbeth.
Seems Lady Macbeth was the most famous handwasher in literary history, when planning the murder of Duncan Macbeth’s rivals to become King of Scotland.
Just for you, my friends, is an imaginary message from Lady Macbeth to 2020.
“My famous line is Out Damned Spot,
Because I washed my hands a lot.
Sometimes a dozen times a day,
to rinse the guilt and fear away.
Now, with this dreaded Covid pest,
I urge you all to do your best,
To wash your hands, stay home and rest,
And pass the self-confinement test.
Macbeth and I both lost our heads,
And finished in dark graveyard beds,
But using lots of soaps and gel,
You’ll get through this, and finish well.”
Meanwhile, this lockdown certainly has many positives.
I have learned to live without fear or favour – the fear being Liverpool will not be able to wallow in the glory of being Premier League champions, although, hmm, I suppose they are worthy winners; the favour is that my beloved Manchester City can live another day without those Scousers having a go at us.
See you.
Rob.
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