Hard lockdown mark II in Western Australia pounced quickly. After ten months of no community transmission of COVID-19 and our ordinary lives, the edict came yesterday as a shock. Not that we should have been surprised. Mark McGowan, the State Premier, warned all along that, should there be a case of community spread of COVID-19, …
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Hotel quarantine for all travellers from overseas as they enter Australia is mandated by the Commonwealth Government. Each state and territory enforces strict conditions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from outside Australia. Some states use the term ‘medi hotel’ instead of quarantine hotel. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Australians returning from …
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The lovely Mere Lake, less than half a kilometre from here on the Subiaco Common, might just as well have been on the other side of the moon. Bursitis of the hip has kept me home for many weeks, or at best walking only short essential distances. Swimming, even many laps, on the other hand, …
Continue reading “Recovery and the magic of Lake Mere”
COVID-19 complacency has overtaken some of Western Australia. How could we so quickly forget our lessons learnt about hygiene and social distancing? I’m disappointed and edgy because I think we’ve become soft inside our hard borders. I’ve turned into a grumpy old woman, anxious for my own and other people’s safety.
Jargon and slang related to COVID-19 changed the language of Australia. It happened almost as fast as the novel coronovirus which causes the disease that devastated populations spread across the world. Everyone learnt and began to use the formal and informal languages quickly.
Scarlatina (the Latin name for scarlet fever) is not the romantic disease some novelists would like us to think. It caused the death of children in some fiction in classic children’s literature. But this deadly disease occurred in epidemics as a world-wide scourge. You can read about scarlatina in children’s literature here.
Scarlet fever, according to Lizzie Enfield, is ‘the red rash of romantics’. The once-deadly disease causes a high fever, red rash, red lumps on the tongue, flushed cheeks and red creases under the arms, in the elbows and groins. As well, it causes the death or severe disability of several children in literature. They include …
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We need to have a conversation about COVID-19 and social isolation. People talk more about COVID-19 than they do about any other topic these days except, perhaps, toilet paper, which may be even worse. That’s why you may well say, ‘Oh, no! Not another article about the virus!’ But stay with me.
Do I want to be in charge or to be in control? Such an important question, one I asked myself often this week. The answer may be subtle but essential for personal peace and happiness. Last week I wrote a blog about the things we can control in our lives. If you missed it, you …
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Self-care seems like an odd word to choose as one’s catchword for a year, but the concept deserves consideration for many reasons. Catch-words help to focus our minds on important aspects of life, the areas we want to improve. A word of the year can develop into a powerful tool for change, without the bother …
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