‘Why can’t I go? How coronavirus is messing with my daily plans’

Not go to the beach? You’ve gotta be kidding! In your dreams! We’ve had a horrible summer.

Endless drought, fires, ash and pollution followed by floods. We had water that was horrible to swim in with the ash floating sullenly on the top of the waves. You can’t be real?

We finally have a few hot days unexpectedly (but not that overused word ‘unprecedented’) in autumn so we go to the beach. Talk about conflicting advice. Coronavirus hates heat, so sit in the sun, they said. So we did. Keep apart and don’t shake hands. So we did and didn’t. And yes we do think that salt air is beneficial and salt water very beneficial. So cleansing, we think. It was used for preserving food, so yes, it may help.

In my neck of the woods our local pool is called Doctor Shelly, so if you have a health problem the first line of attack is a swim. If that doesn’t work, we say then see you health practitioner.

I’m part of a group called the Brass Monkeys and we swim every morning. We swear that’s why we’re all alive and kicking. You are forgetting we’re sun worshippers, well that’s with a goodly amount of 50-plus sunscreen. I always thought those Egyptians were on to something with their worship of Ra the sun god.

This latest decree of not going to the beach may well put lethargic Aussies out on the street protesting. Yes, with a space between protestors. Surely we can space ourselves out on the beach or the riverbank.

Recently, watching an early morning fitness group I was impressed at how the towels were self-isolating while their owners ran about with a giant space between them. Next directive tells our lifesavers to do head counts on the beach to be sure there are fewer than 500 people. Then what? Call the police? That is of course, as well as fishing floundering people out of a rip or some giant wave they weren’t expecting.

Remember Winston Churchill and his famous speech beginning, “We shall fight them on the beaches”? I am concerned that this can happen again in a different kind of fight and a different place.

Thank goodness for Facebook. We can help our loneliness by communicating there. I never thought I’d say that.

Thank heavens for books, the television, gardening, and phones, and my ukulele community who are posting songs for me to sing along to. This social distancing is putting us so far away from each other maybe our old ‘Cooee’ will be necessary.

I detest the phrase ‘unAustralian’, but not go to the beach? In your dreams!

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