Day 12 of Spain’s Lockdown

I went for a walk with the dog this morning. I took our rescue terrier Tess through a nearby park and then down to an adjacent park with a playground. But the playground has plastic tape around it. No one is allowed to play there now. On our way back home, I saw a man with a medical mask picking up an older woman in a black van. Probably a hired car taking her to the airport in Alicante. She had two suitcases to carry but the man didn’t offer to help her with the bags. She carried them down the steps and put them in the boot of the van by herself. He probably didn’t want to touch anything she had touched in case of infection. No one else was on the street.

As of today, Spain has 47,610 cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the corona virus. More than 5,500 people have died so far in Spain from this illness. Madrid is the worst hit region of the country. A video I saw on You Tube recently showed a crying doctor saying that there were not enough ventilators in the country. As a result, people younger than 65 would be given priority. People 65 years and older would be given medication to treat the pain, but no ventilators. What a tough choice that these doctors would be forced to make, deciding who lives and who dies.

When out walking the dog, the only people I usually see are other dog walkers. Thankfully, this activity is allowed. But walking outside without a dog isn’t allowed. My elderly British neighbor has a small dog and she let another one of my neighbors walk her dog today so that this man could also get some exercise outside. Small mercies.

My husband Rick and I have been keeping occupied reading the news and books, cooking for each other, and watching the Netflix’s series Babylon Berlin. I highly recommend this German television show that begins in 1929 and takes place in Berlin. It has three seasons too so it will take you some time to get through all the episodes. For details, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_Berlin.

Although I am more of a Twitter person than a Facebook one, Facebook has been helpful during this trying time with people posting funny jokes and sharing a variety of musical performances. Here are a few funny Facebook posts.

My favorite musical performance so far is two very cute young Italian boys playing Coldplay’s Viva la Vida on violins. https://www.facebook.com/marcelotinelli/videos/200164807938874.

Here’s my second favorite, sent to me by my friend Darlene Foster, a neighbor and fellow writer. It is Beethoven’s Ode to Joy played together on Zoom by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p09hpKAv9Jc&feature=share&fbclid= ver-qPY2c

Thank God for music, for humor, for friends and neighbors. I am especially grateful for the internet and wifi, so that we can ride out this pandemic together by sharing jokes and music with each other Imagine what it would be like if there was no internet right now! We would all be suffering alone without the comfort of others to help us make it through this difficult time.