"COVID-normal" Summer
22 March 2021
The first months of 2021 passed very quickly. While our daily activities have been less restricted than they were for much of 2020, we are still a long way from the old “normal”.
During the Summer we made good use of the house at Sorrento. We stayed there between Christmas and New Year and again over weekends in January and February. Because there are few accessible alternatives for getting away, the house was in use most of the time, with my sister, other relatives and family friends staying there. It has changed from being something of a responsibility and potentially a burden prior to 2020 to being a highlight in our recreation options. Even so, we plan to start travelling a bit further from home as the pandemic recedes.
On the weekends when we weren't at Sorrento we have made good use of the deck at home. I replanted the pots and tidied up for the Summer so Jay could also get a break from work by sitting out in the sun.
In March 2020 I made the decision to cancel the go karting morning I had planned as a birthday activity. As soon as we were able to choose a date to reschedule it, I did, and so we had a group of about 30 meet there in January for races. Those that drove were divided during the heats into “fast”, “slow” and “too nauseated to continue” for the finals. Christian won the final, but the result wasn’t as important as the feeling of finally doing something with friends which had been impossible for so long in 2020.
At the end of February our anaesthesia trainees finish their contracts and new ones arrive. Each year there is a farewell for the departing trainees. Many were able to be present in-person, but because of quarantine requirements, many were already in quarantine elsewhere before starting new jobs. This meant that the shout-out I received was on video as Will Watson was in the UK.
Rowing restarted as the lockdown was lifted and several learn-to-row cohorts came though the club in quick succession due to pent-up demand and disruption from a five day lockdown in mid-February. It was nice just to get to meet some new people and socialise after the Saturday morning sessions.
The Australian Open tennis was delayed into February but went ahead successfully. As usual, we went to the evening session of the first Friday. It was easily the most pleasant visit to the tennis we have had. Restrictions on the number of people present meant that the stadium was sparsely populated and their were minimal queues for the food and drink stands. The five-day lockdown started on the evening we were there, so we left before the end of the final match in order to be home before midnight as required. The home gym equipment got a few more sessions while our regular gym was closed.
Control of the coronavirus pandemic has been almost completely successful since the end of the long lockdown in October. There have been a few small outbreaks, but no significant transmission. Life has felt almost normal except for the inability to travel abroad. Work at the hospital is back to our normal case mix as there are no longer COVID wards or many suspected-COVID patients.
Public facilities are open at reduced capacity, but we were still able to mark the end of Summer with an afternoon at the Prahran Pool. Normally there is a queer pool party there as part of the Midsumma festival, but as the festival was postponed to April, we had to make out own party.
While Midsumma was delayed, Mardi Gras and ChillOut festivals went ahead with modified activities. Both were on the same weekend this year. We decided that driving to Daylesford was less of a gamble than flying to Sydney and so we ventured outside the boundary of Melbourne for the first time in a year to spend the weekend at ChillOut. It was even more low-key than usual, with none of the large events such as the fair day. We saw friends, went to a nice afternoon at the lavender farm and a housewarming.
I was scheduled to be in "Phase 1b" of the national vaccination program for COVID. I was surprised when the public hospital scheduled me quite early in the program and received the AstraZeneca vaccine without any adverse effects.
We had given support to the new Victorian Pride Centre after meeting Stuart Kollmorgen last year who is the Deputy Chair of its board. Construction has been somewhat delayed by the pandemic and resulting restrictions, but the building is nearing completion and we were excited to receive from him an acknowledgement. In the coming months we should be able to see the Centre open. Our only regret is that our local bookshop is relocating to the Centre and so will no longer be a short walk away.
With Autumn starting here we are going to travel by plane for the first time in more than a year in the coming weeks and have planned a longer trip for July. We are optimistic that with vaccinations continuing we won't have further sudden disruptions and hope that all our family will have some protection from the pandemic within a month or two.
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During the Summer we made good use of the house at Sorrento. We stayed there between Christmas and New Year and again over weekends in January and February. Because there are few accessible alternatives for getting away, the house was in use most of the time, with my sister, other relatives and family friends staying there. It has changed from being something of a responsibility and potentially a burden prior to 2020 to being a highlight in our recreation options. Even so, we plan to start travelling a bit further from home as the pandemic recedes.
On the weekends when we weren't at Sorrento we have made good use of the deck at home. I replanted the pots and tidied up for the Summer so Jay could also get a break from work by sitting out in the sun.
In March 2020 I made the decision to cancel the go karting morning I had planned as a birthday activity. As soon as we were able to choose a date to reschedule it, I did, and so we had a group of about 30 meet there in January for races. Those that drove were divided during the heats into “fast”, “slow” and “too nauseated to continue” for the finals. Christian won the final, but the result wasn’t as important as the feeling of finally doing something with friends which had been impossible for so long in 2020.
At the end of February our anaesthesia trainees finish their contracts and new ones arrive. Each year there is a farewell for the departing trainees. Many were able to be present in-person, but because of quarantine requirements, many were already in quarantine elsewhere before starting new jobs. This meant that the shout-out I received was on video as Will Watson was in the UK.
Rowing restarted as the lockdown was lifted and several learn-to-row cohorts came though the club in quick succession due to pent-up demand and disruption from a five day lockdown in mid-February. It was nice just to get to meet some new people and socialise after the Saturday morning sessions.
The Australian Open tennis was delayed into February but went ahead successfully. As usual, we went to the evening session of the first Friday. It was easily the most pleasant visit to the tennis we have had. Restrictions on the number of people present meant that the stadium was sparsely populated and their were minimal queues for the food and drink stands. The five-day lockdown started on the evening we were there, so we left before the end of the final match in order to be home before midnight as required. The home gym equipment got a few more sessions while our regular gym was closed.
Control of the coronavirus pandemic has been almost completely successful since the end of the long lockdown in October. There have been a few small outbreaks, but no significant transmission. Life has felt almost normal except for the inability to travel abroad. Work at the hospital is back to our normal case mix as there are no longer COVID wards or many suspected-COVID patients.
Public facilities are open at reduced capacity, but we were still able to mark the end of Summer with an afternoon at the Prahran Pool. Normally there is a queer pool party there as part of the Midsumma festival, but as the festival was postponed to April, we had to make out own party.
While Midsumma was delayed, Mardi Gras and ChillOut festivals went ahead with modified activities. Both were on the same weekend this year. We decided that driving to Daylesford was less of a gamble than flying to Sydney and so we ventured outside the boundary of Melbourne for the first time in a year to spend the weekend at ChillOut. It was even more low-key than usual, with none of the large events such as the fair day. We saw friends, went to a nice afternoon at the lavender farm and a housewarming.
I was scheduled to be in "Phase 1b" of the national vaccination program for COVID. I was surprised when the public hospital scheduled me quite early in the program and received the AstraZeneca vaccine without any adverse effects.
We had given support to the new Victorian Pride Centre after meeting Stuart Kollmorgen last year who is the Deputy Chair of its board. Construction has been somewhat delayed by the pandemic and resulting restrictions, but the building is nearing completion and we were excited to receive from him an acknowledgement. In the coming months we should be able to see the Centre open. Our only regret is that our local bookshop is relocating to the Centre and so will no longer be a short walk away.
With Autumn starting here we are going to travel by plane for the first time in more than a year in the coming weeks and have planned a longer trip for July. We are optimistic that with vaccinations continuing we won't have further sudden disruptions and hope that all our family will have some protection from the pandemic within a month or two.
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