For
the first time in two weeks I left the confines of the house and pool and
ventured out into the silent street world to take the rubbish to the communal
bins. They are about 100m away and I
felt that my excursion was an expedition. I met no one and only one car passed,
or rather I passed it as the driver was sitting in the car on a zebra crossing,
texting – some things never change in spite of the country being in the grip of
a crisis!
A crisis in which the numbers of infected
and dying are still going up in Catalonia.
The lockdown has now been in operation for more than two weeks and we
should be seeing some sort of change in the numbers. This must be the high point of the infection
of the virus and we should over the next few days see a reduction in deaths, at
least.
It
is a sign of the times that I was sent a video that shows someone wandering
through a packed Spanish warehouse explaining that the wrapped boxes of
essential medical equipment we can see are all destined for France because the
Spanish government had refused to pay for them.
This video has provoked a storm of outrage, especially when front line
workers in hospitals are not properly protected from the virus.
It turns out, however, that the video is a
particularly despicable piece of fake news from Vox the Spanish fascist party,
designed to embarrass the ‘socialist’ government of Spain. What it has pointed up however, is the ready
belief of the citizens of Spain that their elected government would actually behave in the way that the video indicates, that the government does not really care
about the ordinary citizens. This
attitude has been allowed to develop because of the tardy approach of the
government in the early stages of the virus’ spread in Spain. And there is still great skepticism about the
approach of the powers that be that each new death seems to reinforce.
Yesterday
was a ‘wasted’ day for me because I lack self-control. That accusation was more than adequately
justified by my surrender to Facebook, Netflix and YouTube with various other
Internet Interludes. There was a
terrible logic of consequence as one digression after another led me deeper and
deeper into visually enticing indulgence after indulgence and, after a final
binge on Sherlock, it was suddenly two in the morning! I suppose it is one way to take one’s mind
off what is ravaging the rest of the country!
The
weather has been indifferent for the second day running and rain truncated my
daily wandering around the pool; it is tempting to fall in with the climate and
sulk the day away, but there is far too much threatened imprisonment ahead to
start slacking and fail to make the most of the opportunity that self-concentration
affords! And will go on affording to
those who can take make something of it.
And I’m doing my best – apart from yesterday!
