Keeping things in perspective

In common with virtually the entire population of the UK, plus most of the inhabitants of planet Earth, I’m well and truly Corona’d out. Obviously this mischievous little piece of RNA (ribonucleic acid) is something to take extremely seriously, with a potentially devastating effect on both public health and global economies, but the popular press and “social meejah” have been having a real field day over Covid-19, and it’s become much harder to escape the hype surrounding the global pandemic, than it is from the actual virus itself.

Stories of  death and disaster help to sell newspapers, and as rags like the Daily Excess know only too well, there’s nothing like a good scare story, aimed at the poorly educated, or mis-informed.  when it comes to increasing readership and circulation figures.

If you’ll pardon the pun, many people were already sick to death of the endless statistics and doom and gloom already circulating around Corona, and that’s before it really started getting serious, here in the UK.

Now, we’ve got to somehow avoid social contact and interaction with our fellow human beings, as much as possible over an unspecified period of time. This is not going to be easy for a species that is naturally a social one, with behaviour patterns that have evolved over many thousands of years.

Not surprisingly, I’ve been thinking about this a lot over recent days and wondering quite how I will manage any self-imposed isolation from the rest of society. For the time being, at least, the company I work for will continue to operate normally; or as normal as possible under straightened conditions. This makes sense, particularly as we have a full order-book.

We are a manufacturing company which means we make things, so my management colleagues and I took the decision yesterday, to carry on as we are, but with prudent and sensible precautions in place to protect the health of our workforce, and that of the area in which we work.

We employ just over 30 people, and we are situated in a rural area, but that doesn’t mean we are immune. So appropriate measures, such as regular hand washing and strategically placed hand sanitizer, are the order of the day.  Best of all, as was decided today, no meetings involving more than five people – YES!!

This does mean that for me that, unless circumstances change and more draconian measures are imposed, there will be sufficient social interaction between Monday and Friday, so I shan’t go completely stir-crazy.

There is still the opportunity to go for walks at lunchtime, and with the weather cheering up, and conditions underfoot slowly drying out, this does make being outdoors much more pleasurable. The snowdrops, hidden on the edge of woodland areas have given way to displays of primroses, especially on south-facing grassy banks, and lambs born just a few weeks ago have achieved impressive spurts in their growth; although they still go running after mum when approached.

All this is a reminder that the natural world carries on, caring nothing about Corona virus, complex supply chains or the effect on the FTE 100, and does put the current cares and concerns of us humans, into perspective. We are but a small part of the natural world, and if we want to be really pedantic, so is Covid-19.

So I’ll leave it there for now. Next time I’ll describe how I plan to occupy myself, should I be forced to self-isolate, and there’s a bit of pub news as well. Keep safe and stay well.