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I get it all out of order but slang evolving in schools and at parties and on bits of the web too young for me reaches me sometimes and I can see how it does new things, How the word filled a gap, maybe a rebirth of an earlier phrase or concept, but wonk. Like lit. Excellent, and it comes with it a whole fathom of nuance, of lit from within, of lit by a spotlight, of lit like a candle. Something that is illuminated or illuminates.
When I walked tonight, oh, the sky was lit. A great expanse of pink and clouds full of rolls and folds and curls. And the sea was extraordinary, somehow still and smooth and a bright light blue with various pink stripes. Not its usual grey greeny self at all. The South Island was dark and huge and so long, the lines of mountains seemed to go on forever. As if I everything had been somehow heaved up and shifted and landed again in a different place. I was walking the track I had never been on before lockdown, which weaves past the urupa and over the small hills, so you can see the bike track on one side and the sea on the other. Tonight is the last night of lockdown so the walk felt significant. The light, the single cicada vibrating, the high pitched tweeting of small birds. At one point a strange heavy bird flew in front of me, I saw it had landed in a tree but it was quite dark by then and I could only see a silhouette, it was some kind of parrot. The large empty roads of the park with their giant white arrows that I was not following. One hour and fifteen minutes until lockdown lifts. We're moving to level 2, schools open on Monday, tomorrow shops, restaurants, malls, libraries, cafes, hairdressers, doctors, dentists. No gatherings of more than 10 people. KT and Sam are coming over for cards at the exact moment, midnight. Joe slept badly and is half-asleep, his elbow resting on the arm of the sofa, his head tilted into his hand, his eyes closed. Tuesday our cat is clinging on to his sloping lap. The kids have made plans with their friends, Alex's quite definite, Maggie's vaguer. One of Maggie's best friends lives over the fence. They wanted to bring soup to Maggie at midnight but I said no unless Maggie wakes up spontaneously. There were no new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today and no deaths. 4.3 million reported cases worldwide, it was only 2 days ago that it reached 4 million. 293,000 reported deaths. Of that 1.4 million cases are in the US,, and they've had 83,000 deaths. These are just the reported cases. The wood burner sounds like an insistent wind. Joe is stretching now, changes position, falls back asleep. Tuesday determinedly purrs on. I love our room full of colour and light, our little house full of the kids crocheting themselves a personhood, their feelings like waterfalls. their brains firing, their stuffing, their stuff. Around 4,116,000 around the world have had the virus. I think I just saw an article saying 10 million people in the US have lost their jobs. In NZ over the last week we have had between -1 and 2 cases. We've had 1400 or so cases and 21 deaths, many of them in rest homes. We are in alert level 3, which meant we were allowed to surf and swim at the beach and kids of essential workers could go to school. Cafes and takeaway places and restaurants could serve takeaway food and drink. Tomorrow there will be an announcement about going into level 2. Level 2 will mean a resumption of pools and malls and schools and workplaces. Kindergartens and some training places, shops, cafes. People are encouraged to work from home still, beauticians and hairdressers wear ppe, personal protective equipment. We have to remain socially distant, cafes can only open with table service, no going up to the counter. They have to limit the number of people allowed inside. No indoor or outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people. We are doing well is the general idea. NZ is doing really well. Joe is printing a lockdown alphabet, commentary on coronavirus. I love it. Today's letter is M. Maggie is asking about the school terms, outraged by a possible longer term (holidays were shifted to the first full weeks of lockdown). She finds science boring, Joe says it may be boring teachers. Ask them to tell you why it's interesting, he says. "Wouldn't this house be more aesthetic, cooler and more fun to visit and generally much better if it grew legs and could walk around?" asks Maggie. Joe and Maggie are discussing this "I think lots of tiny little legs would be better" says Joe "so it could scuttle around.".  |
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