Glass Is Half Full

I can’t wait to do my part in rebuilding when this is all over.

With the light at the end of tunnel getting brighter with each day, and a chance that the number of people in our nation who have passed away from the virus staying in or near just double figures, thoughts will soon turn to getting ‘back to normal’, whatever that will mean, with much of what has happened over the past few months confined to the history books. They’ll make movies and mini-series about it.

Our PM says we ‘earned ourselves an early mark’ from the lockdowns and isolations that have been in place. Good for us – doing the right thing has proven to be pretty easy for the most part. It’s not exactly hard to get it right when the instruction is “stay home, sit on the couch and watch TV”. I thought it was nice of Mr Morrison to thank us for our part, we’ve punched above our weight down here in the Lucky Country in terms of flattening the curve. For the small number who ignored the instructions and just did what they want, not only did they prolong the pain for the regular Joe, perhaps even putting more lives in danger, they will have learned nothing from all of this … just another scenario where doing what you want served them a purpose. It’ll be interesting to see if the rugby league players manage to follow the guidelines set out for them when their game gets back up and running. The examples some of them have set over the past decade lead us to believe that they can’t (or just won’t). Time will tell, I guess.

With around three inches of rain falling in many parts of the Central West last week, most of us were cooped up inside anyway, lockdowns or no lockdowns, and it felt just like any other day really. That noise on the tin roof is one of the best there is, and every drop we have out here is one step closer to the dams filling up and the water restrictions easing. Being thankful for the rain isn’t hard when were stuck at home anyway.

Optimism for what lay ahead is something that could/should be near front of mind. Our wide open spaces, fabulous restaurants and food opportunities, the beautiful country air, the chilly mornings, getting back into our physical activities, celebrating events with families and friends … it’ll mean all that much more to us when we’ve got it back. Joni Mitchell said in her famous song Big Yellow taxi, ‘You don’t what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’ - we are all going to appreciate what we’ve missed all the more in the next month or two I’m betting.

It’s going to be a little bit like those movies where the people wake and realise that they’re the last ones on earth – they have to re-populate the earth and build a new civilisation. It’s not that serious for us, but buying home-grown, using local services and supporting the businesses around our area has never been more important. Ploughing our money and our time into pumping up the local industries is a pretty easy gig, almost as easy as sitting on the couch. Perhaps the next mid-year school break will see families jump in the car and hit the road for a holiday opportunity, staying at a local caravan park, enjoying the tourist attractions of a small country town, eating at their restaurants or buying some steaks and snags from the local butcher for a barbie in the park, then buying the t-shirts and stubby holders of each town we visit.

Whilst it may never be the same as it was, being glass half full minded about what lay ahead is ‘the Aussie way’, and just like lying on the couch, doing our part should come easily.