The truth is in the quote

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

― Hans Christian Anderson

It’s been a lean time here at MPB. I make no excuse for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks. Firstly we were travelling back through France and then getting back to normal life has taken it’s toll. Hopefully now though I can get back to my regular schedule.

The joy of getting away

It wasn’t really until we left the country that the enormity of what has taken place this year became apparent to me. I was worn out by the need to keep abreast of the current pandemic situation, not only in the UK but worldwide. I didn’t realise I was fretting over the way our life had constricted to a mere existence until I stopped worrying. Funnily enough it was the challenges we encountered on arrival at our apartment that put things into perspective. There was water on the floor, there were brown stains where the water had dripped for weeks, maybe more. Then because I turned the electricity on, the water that dripped was hot. For almost 2 weeks we were more interested in putting things right, doing the DIY we had planned and finding time to enjoy ourselves.

Blogging, but also reading the news took a back seat. This was enormously helped along by the fact we had no wifi for another week after that. But even beyond that, for the first time since I don’t know when I started to enjoy just living. I looked around me and saw blue skies. I went out and felt the warmth on my skin. We walked down to the beach and I swam in the sea. We went out for the day and explored a new town, we picnicked by the side of the road. Living in the moment became a way of life, because we didn’t actually need to look further a field. If it hadn’t been for the masks we wore in crowded outside areas and inside, the pandemic may not have existed.

Don’t get me wrong, Coronavirus levels in France are high and people are still ill and dying. We continued to wash our hands, mask up and keep our distance from others. But we weren’t in a high risk area and it was easy to imagine this was a normal year. Easier than it is at home. It was also easier to ignore the outside world and to just enjoy ourselves. Actually be ourselves in fact.

We’re home now of course

Even though I’m busy working as a contact tracer, very busy I might add. And, even though the situation here is far from good, virus wise. I’m determined not to get back to constantly checking the news and the current disease levels. It really doesn’t feel like a healthy thing to do. I can only control my own behaviours and make sure I and we keep safe. I’m very aware through my work of what is happening but fretting about it won’t help.

I’m looking forward to getting out of quarantine next week and getting out and about. I stepped outside yesterday and just breathed the air and can’t wait to take a good walk. In particular I’m going to walk places where I can see how the trees are changing colour.

Before that I have 70 daffodil bulbs to plant and my summer pots to tidy and fill with winter pansies. Winter approaches and it isn’t my favourite time of the year. Normally I’d be looking forward to a bit of hibernation, but not this year. I’m going to try and get out and about as much as I can. We might not be able to socialise with people, or go to some of the places we usually would but I don’t want that to stop me. Instead I’m going to try to hold onto the freedom I’ve felt since I first arrived in France 7 weeks ago now.

Blog changes

You might have noticed that things look a little different around here. I have to say I am pleased with progress so far. My lovely new banner courtesy of Violet Fawkes, not has pride of place at the top of the page. Next I’m going to design a new landing page for the blog and make a few changes to the menus. For once I’ve managed to make changes without losing anything or damaging it, which is something of a first for me. Stand by for more content then and more changes. Stand by too for a positive MPB!

This post is linked to Quote Quest. To see who else has joined in this week click below.