Today is Sunday the 28th of March 2021 and Britain has changed to British Summer Time, by putting the clocks forward one hour. This means that the annual British tradition of wondering around in a semi-confused state and not knowing what time it is, is currently in full swing. Not that it really matters. We have been in one Lockdown or another for twelve months now. For twelve months many have not known what day of the week it is and at times, what month it is. Putting the clocks forward is the least of our inconveniences.
The twice yearly clock change is for some an inconvenience but for others, an amusement. It is also a puzzle. It is one of those 'traditions' that we all do but we are not really sure why? Why do we do it, why did we start doing it and why do we still do it? I am told it originated during the Great War as an adjustment to save energy and allow armament workers an improved shift pattern, so increasing productivity. So over one hundred years later we still 'Spring' forward and in the Autumn, we 'fall' back. It is all so wonderfully quaint.
As readers will be aware, I have been documenting my experiences regarding the Lockdown semi-regularly over the past year. I had no idea that in March 2020 when I wrote the first instalment, I would write a series over the course of a year. My opinion and perspective has changed markedly, if gradually. I have no intention of going back and editing my previous posts. I shall leave them here for all to read. It is a matter of integrity that all can read, what I got wrong and what I got right. The blog will remain public and free to access.
The Spring has certainly been a traumatic experience on a personal level. I am a staff nurse and I work at a large acute hospital, in the English Midlands. In January I started a new role but I had completed not much more than half a dozen shifts, before being redeployed back to the wards. This redeployment was to meet the staffing crisis brought about by a new wave of COVID admissions and I spent near two months on an acute unit. For half that time it was a RED unit, full of COVID patients, later the ward went GREEN, returning to Diabetes and Endocrinology.
Although my own experience on a RED unit does not compare to those of my colleagues redeployed last year, those in HDU, ICU or ED. It was tough but less intense. My respect and admiration remains undiminished. I can say that I have done my share now, I have completed my 'tour of duty' and I have seen COVID for what it is. It is a killer. As one consultant surgeon who I used to work for has said, the wards became killing grounds. True words and very sad.
I have been in healthcare for almost twenty five years. Death is not a stranger to me. We lose patients, we perform last offices, it is part of the job. I have been doing this for a long time but the COVID experience is different. Never before as a nurse, have I lost so many battles; in so short a space of time. Daily or almost daily as the situation improved, we lost them. Often there was little we could do, other than make people comfortable; keep the oxygen going and hope. I would spend a shift with a sick patient, go home at the end of the day and return the next morning; to be told that they had passed during the night. This is not an unusual nursing experience but the frequency has made it an abnormal one.
The situation did improve towards the end of February, the pressure eased a little but sick people are still sick people. Even as a GREEN unit we still lost patients to various co-morbidities. One man I remember, he was about my age and obviously ill. He had survived COVID but remained unwell due to his pre-existing issues. I had spent the day struggling with his hypoglycaemia and his hypoxia. Right at the end of the shift, while he was sitting up in bed and talking to me. He died. In midsentence he sat back and died. This is the nursing that journalists don't write about in the newspapers.
The ward that I was redeployed to was exceptionally well managed and had an excellent team, whose professionalism was of the very highest standard. I came away impressed. I was also flattered to be offered a job. I have declined, at least for the moment. Being 'poached' twice is I suspect frowned upon and since I have only just moved from a ward, I really should give the new environment a fair trial. It is a very good feeling however, to know that I made a positive impression and that other units would want me.
As the month progressed the media continued to play with the public as it is want to do. The latest drama being, the oh so difficult existence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. So hurt, so pained and oh so privileged. I did not waste my time watching the now infamous interview. I know a publicity stunt when I see one but it saddens me that so many are fooled by the media today. As a Royalist I have some loyalty and a rather different perspective from most anyway. I am also inclined to note that family business is family business and dirty laundry should not be washed in public. This last observation does rather go against the tide of modern life, whereby every worthless detail of our lives is expected to be shared across the Internet. A couple complaining (or whining) about their lack of privacy and using television to share their moans, does seem rather hypocritical to me. Not that I am particularly aware regards celebrity culture. I had never heard of the Duchess prior to her marriage and my interest in her activities now, is negligible. The response from the Palace was dignified and concise. It is sad that so few today have that same dignity.
The media does of course like to play these games with us, whether it is COVID, vaccinations, Royal news or such like. The real news is kept hidden, free speech is undermined, we turn a blind eye to rioting and HS2 continues to destroy our countryside. One year on and it is clear that many have been forced by circumstance, to view the world through the lens of the media and the Internet. A warped and inaccurate perspective of the world is formed by this lack of social interaction. People really do need to 'get out more' but we have nowhere to go. Facebook for example remains an echo chamber, where people claim to support free expression but any dissenting opinion is quickly silenced.
The 'Road-Map' announced is a sign of hope and I eagerly await the potentiality, of being able to travel on the Summer Solstice. The Solstice this year falls on Monday the 21st of June, the date that could see the complete lifting of the Lockdown restrictions. We should not however, get too excited or too hopeful. We have already been disappointed. One year on and the 'light at the end of the tunnel' seems to be as far away as it ever was. We are a week away from Easter and the Solstice is many weeks away. There is no guarantee of freedom.
The Spring Equinox fell this year on Saturday the 20th of March and the restrictions here in the United Kingdom are in line with the Road-Map, being eased incrementally. This easing of limitations enabled me to enjoy two short walks locally, with friends and suitably socially distanced. One took place on the day before the Equinox and one on the day after. I spent the day of the Equinox itself, alone and in private contemplation. The weather was not perfect, the ground is still quite damp after the heavy rains we have experienced but to be out in sunlight was a pleasure. Many spring flowers are in bud if not necessarily in bloom, the bird life is active and the bumble bees have woken up.
The Vernal or Spring Equinox is a date associated with the symbolism of new returning life, increased activity and with light. The days are becoming palpably longer now, in the sense that daylight now overtakes the hours of darkness. This seasonal symbolism is of an extended period, covering the Equinox, through to Lady Day and into the Eastertide. Lady Day or the Feast of the Annunciation, is the Christian observance of the visitation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. This appearance was to inform the Virgin of her pregnancy and the eventual birth of the Christ Child. Easter of course has its focus upon suffering, redemption and resurrection. Although the vernal symbolism of hares, bunnies and eggs will have little if anything to do with Christianity, there are many overlaps of an esoteric significance. Birth, rebirth, hope and rejuvenation, the list can be expanded.
Tuesday the 23rd of March 2021 was the one year anniversary of the start of the first Lockdown and here in the United Kingdom, it was observed as the National Day of Reflection. I say observed in a rather broad sense. I and many others missed the announcements in the build up. I and many others missed the various activities and were ignorant of such, until it was all over and done. Not that missing the activities is of primary importance but the actual day itself is. It provided a reminder and enabled us to contemplate the significance and the impact of the past year. We in healthcare remember not just the patients we have lost but importantly, our colleagues. A few moments to pause and consider the implications and the losses, is of value.
The Vernal Equinox, Lady Day and the approaching Easter. All share a common theme of hope. They all share the symbolism of a positive and bright light, leading us forward to a beneficial future. I however, do not yet see this light at the end of the tunnel. We all have hope but the future holds no guarantee. We all seek our own resurrection, whereby the stone is rolled away from the tomb that is our Lockdown and we can rise again like the Christ on that first 'Easter.' We all continue to hope but do we hope in vain?
The Toxic Internet & Intolerance
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/the-toxic-internet-intolerance/
The Toxic Internet & Misinformation
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/02/08/the-toxic-internet-misinformation/
TOXIC INTERNET: SOCIAL MEDIA & THE SEEDS OF
DIVISION
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/12/10/social-media-the-seeds-of-division/
Young Earth Creationism and the Televangelist Movement
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/06/30/young-earth-creationism-and-the-televangelist-movement/
American Christianity & Politics
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/american-christianity-politics/
LIVING IN TWO WORLDS
https://chatteringmagpie-summonerofthehearth.blogspot.com/2018/08/living-in-two-worlds.html
SELF-IDENTITY & LABELLING
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/06/30/self-identity-labelling/
Perceptions – Misconceptions & Change
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/07/08/perceptions-misconceptions-change/
A Witness for the Prosecution
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/03/20/a-witness-for-the-prosecution/
Mankind’s Great Achievement
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/03/22/mankinds-great-achievement/
Dignified – no further comment necessary
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/03/11/dignified-no-further-comment-necessary/
TWENTY – TWENTY VISION – A YEAR IN REVIEW
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/01/10/twenty-twenty-vision-a-year-in-review/
Lockdown
24th March 2020
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/Lockdown-24th-march-2020/
Lockdown
Part Two & Clap for our Carers 2020
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/04/09/Lockdown-part-two-clap-for-our-carers-2020/
Lockdown
Part Three – Clap for Boris & Easter Weekend 2020
Lockdown
Part 4 – Maytide & VE Day 2020
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/lockdown-part-4-maytide-ve-day-2020/
LOCKDOWN
PART FIVE – MEDIA LIES
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/06/02/lockdown-part-five-media-lies/
Lockdown
Part 6 – When this is over
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/lockdown-part-6-when-this-is-over/
Lockdown
Part 7 – Autumn 2020
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/lockdown-part-7-autumn-2020/
Lockdown
Part 8 – Hallowtide 2020
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/11/16/lockdown-part-8-hallowtide-2020/
Lockdown
Part 9 – Candlemas & Lambtide 2021
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/lockdown-part-9-candlemas-lambtide-2021/
An
Introduction to the Hearth of the Turning Wheel
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2019/05/21/an-introduction-to-the-hearth-of-the-turning-wheel/
One Pagans Perspective
of the Covid-19 Pandemic
https://knotmagick101.wordpress.com/2021/01/31/one-pagans-perspective-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR3JVWiWrOpD7FNTnnJ23KvhmPcEkONbNvhfnS_pv4LfaR-QrxlFrdRIhMc
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