Look what I had for Christmas! Not something I expected or wanted. However, there was an unexpected bonus.
Although I can’t be completely sure, I think this all started with the Carols by Candlelight service at our church in town. It was absolutely packed, probably 400 or 500 people, all singing quite loudly and, it must be said, an ideal situation for sharing all kinds of hugs and bugs. Not that I had exactly thought of that at the time.
Next came Christmas Eve, a couple of days later. I had driven to Weston to collect my mother and I remember feeling I had a bit of a sore throat at bedtime, but thought little of it.
Christmas Day, we went to church in the village, all good. Lunch and presents followed, our Ukrainian guests joined us. During the evening I felt shivery and started coughing quite a lot. Boxing Day morning Rachel suggested I took a Covid test.
Lo and behold, it was positive. “Ah” I thought “the test kit is out of date, it must be unreliable”
Rachel found another testing kit (she manages to find almost anything you could possibly need here in the Quirky Museum). This next kit was in date and sure enough, the result was positive. As clear as a bell, no mistaking those two lines, no matter how much I tried to wriggle out of it.
Windows were flung open, face mask applied (to me!) and instructions given that I was now banned from the kitchen, sanitise everything everywhere and to cough carefully into the bend in my arm, definitely not to spray Covid flavoured droplets over everyone else. I had been told.
Actually, it has meant my mother had to stay for a couple of extra days before I could drive her home. So that was quite nice, although it did involve being bitten by the Downton Abbey TV period drama bug (something I had always resisted before).
I feel mostly better now. This morning I tested again and was negative. Although Covid was like a bad cold and nothing worse, it did bring back memories of when it was much worse and things were pretty serious for the country and the world. We lived in a strange time, back then in 2020. We were programmed to avoid each other in the street and be cautious on trains and public transport, if it was operating. Our travel plans were restricted. We all learned to use Zoom and Teams. Parties were banned, except in Downing Street, of course.
Even though I have been vaccinated a couple of months ago, perhaps the strain wasn’t the same, or perhaps the vaccine lessened the impact?
Although my dose of Covid was very mild, I am left feeling quite weak and floppy. My watch stats tell me I am averaging 8 hours and 45 minutes sleep each night. That’s quite a lot. Bliss!