MenoAZinkulling: P

This month here at the Wild YAMster's bloggy, you are going to be regaled with words related to feelings and happenings of the last twelve months. Oh yes, you know of what I talk.  This is to be the ALPHABET OF AAARRGFIZZZ... We've all had to deal with it. This will be a reflection purely from my point of view. You don't necessarily have to agree with what I say; just appreciate where it's coming from. Normal service will resume on May Day. (By which time I may be yelling that down the ether phone loud and repetitively!)

☀♉☀

Pandemic!

Phew, got that one out of the way. Moving on...

There was an element of Panic, in the beginning, was there not? Panic-buying, panic-travelling. What? Yes, all the folk in the cities tried to move out to the country. Like that would Prevent infection. All they did was carry it with them. Prevention became the key factor in the guidelines that governments laid out for their citizens. Not always that clear. Indeed, for many, the Westministerial offerings were about as clear as cracked glass. Lots of loopholes. Lots of contradictions. Mainly, one suspects because there was no Planning - apparently a total lack. One must be fair and acknowledge that nobody living now has ever been through anything like this before. Including the chaps in charge in the Big Hoose. Except for the fact that it was expected to happen at some point. After all, nature's early warning system had been working; 

SOURCE

Was it a case of 'cry wolf' in that before 2020, outbreaks had been contained or proven not to be the threat expected of them? Did it mean that complacency set in? Whatever -  this one has flown in and ensured that we pay attention.

In cold, hard, statistical terms, the death numbers directly attributable to COVID are still only at 0.05% of the world population at the time of writing. Yes, the number may grow a little yet, but this is the context. The trouble is, some of the worst-hit countries (that is to say, those with the largest death tolls) are those countries where it is thought to be unlikely—western, 'healthy' places like these wee islands off the north coast of Europe. At the end of March, we tipped over the 150k total for 'excess deaths'. There is no way to be flippant about such numbers. Of those, 130+k are in England, 7.5k in Scotland, 5.5k in Wales and 2.2k in N.I. 

Sorry to lay that out, but it would be nonsense to have a theme about Coviditionitis, and a post with the subheading it does, without covering that territory. Or mentioning another big pee-word that we have all had to think about ... Personal Protective Equipment. It was all very haphazard, wasn't it? Even sorting out the most effective mask strength proved an elusive task - in the end, any face covering will be better than none, combined with good surface and hand hygiene and avoiding contact with anyone else.

All this kinda-sorta passed the father and me by. We would anyway have been a bit restricted due to the deterioration in his Parkinson's. Oh yes, that was the other big-pee that dominated my 2020. And his, of course. I do think, though, that the deterioration was sped up by the fact that we could not have the weekly coffee morning with our dear Neighbour M, or dad his fortnightly meet and greet with his excellent pal Ron or even his monthly outing for lunch with old buddy Tom. He had me, the telly, Mac1, the telly, brief turns with Macs 2 and 3, the telly.... and sleep, sleep, sleep. As each month, each week, went by, he seemed to shrink just that bit more, physically and mentally.  Despite taking all steps that we could to attend to his comfort, it became increasingly clear this was his final year.

We cannot leave the letter pee without mentioning (as has been done in most of these posts!) the matter of Politics. Globally, the political scene has been showing a significant trend to 'the right'. Ultra-conservatism based on neo-liberal principles. That is the ebb and flow of things, too, is it not? The "greed is good" mentality alive and well for a spell, then an upturning of that for more civil and social-mindedness and egalitarianism. You may have surmised that I lean more to the latter. 

Sadly, most politics these days appears to be based upon social-media-style celebrity 'cultism' - personality-driven rather than policy-driven. Then, when it is found that cronyism is alive and well in the Parliament and the Primo Mouthster peddles the capitalist anthem, one despairs.

See tomorrow for the ongoing saga. Please be aware that there is more I amAZing over at 

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