Chronicles of COVID-19

Title

Shane, Co. Cork

Contributor

Shane

Subject

COVID-19 (Disease)

Coverage

Ireland; Cork; 2020s:

Date

18 April 2020

Language

English

Creator

Cork Folklore Project

Rights

Cork Folklore Project

Description

GENERAL PHYSICAL LOCATION RIGHT NOW

I live about 10 miles north east of Cork City in a rural location surrounded by farms.

USUAL LOCATION

Same

Q. 1 STAGES

My first interaction with news of the virus came via my brother who lives in Perth in Australia. Noted for his cool and non-panic perspective on the world, he rang me when I was going to work one morning and said he was buying a freezer to stockpile some food! He lectures in Engineering in UWA and he has a number of Chinese students and his contact with them highlighted what was going to pass. I rang my brother and my sister and told my colleagues at work and my partner Máire and each and every one dismissed the news as rubbish. It is startling as to what has happened since and how the world has closed down. I was giving a lecture in UCC to my folklore students on Thursday and at 12 noon, in one quick moment, the world closed down and my normality was shifted. That point of transition was significant. There followed constant discussions, arguments, stand-offs about gloves, face masks, using hand sanitizer with myself being ultra-cautious and Máire being less 'believing'. As time has moved on, the seriousness of the situation has been embraced and we are fanatical to observe the recommended precautions.

Q. 2 EVERYDAY ROUTINE

My day has changed. I still get up early as I wake just before 7.00am. I do some work in preparation for teaching in my study and organise a 'Zoom Session' with my students. This is important simply to see the students' faces and them to see yours and to hear voices. I am mainly involved in providing distraction and motivation and following the session, I scan and upload useful resources on Moodle and Canvas for different groups. Around Midday, we have a coffee and since the lockdown has come about I have been baking lots of different cakes (Banana bread, Apple cake, Coffee Cake) and we have a slice of that. The weather has been really great up to this point and most of the rest of the day has been spent looking after the garden and doing all sorts of odd jobs. We have painted gates, tidied sheds, sprayed weed-killer, and de-thatched the moss on the lawns.
I even felled a big ash tree that was obliterating the sun from the garden and used the chainsaw to cut it up. This led to a whole obsession with making a proper wood shed for the wood to dry and this took over a week to complete. In truth, I have been doing all this 'primal survival' stuff as some sort of innate reaction to the crisis. Rituals: I set up a Cousins Whats App group (14 of us) and have spent time uploading old family photographs and sharing memories with them. We come across all the anniversaries of our parents and siblings who have passed away and this has been very emotional and powerful. We have use Whats App video calling to sing Happy Birthday to my grandson Josh who was nine and who lives in Dublin. Maire's mum is 93 and she got her first iPad the other day and now she has every one of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren face timing her from one end of the day to the other.

Q. 3 GROUPS

Two of my neighbours who live close by are 'cocooning' and only go for walks up and down the lane within a short distance from their house. Our local farm shop has started an honesty box for the newspaper and a system of if we want anything we can phone in, pay by card and they will leave it outside the shop with your name on it for collection. We have put a 'Munster Rugby' flag flying in out front garden to show support for all the front line workers. When we look at the news on the television (only once per day @ 6.00pm) I have found myself being very emotional and physically upset with an overwhelming sense of pride at the work done by Dr Tony Houlihan, the government and the Irish nation as a whole and then also by the fear of the overall crisis for humanity.

Q. 4 WAYS WE TALK

Social Distancing, Cocooning, Flattening the Curve, Sour Dough, Zoom There is a constant feed of funny jokes, songs and video clips sent every day on social media. On that acmes to mind is a version of 'Come-on Eileen' sung as 'Covid 19' and another very funny one about lock-down to the tune of Lannigan's Ball. We have put a 'Munster Rugby' flag flying in out front garden to show support for all the front line workers. We lit a candle in each and every window (like Christmas) to show solidarity and support. We wave at people much more. I notice that when we walk everyone says hello and makes a remark about the value of walking or the good weather. People remark on the gardens and the work going on. No-one is in any rush when talking. We stop and talk and talk and there is no anxiousness to move on. A telephone call can take an hour and there is a sense that there is more sincerity and depth to conversations.

Q. 5 COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Our postman has been great calling to everyone and chatting to them. Retired health workers have kitted up and visit and look after the older neighbours for shopping and chat at a distance. Our local farm shop has been exceptional in staying open and helping the older members of our community. Our local Garden Centre which is a hub in the community has done everything it can to get plants and flowers to everyone around and has developed a phone in system.

Q. 6 THOUGHTS AND PREOCCUPATIONS

Strangely, I have found the downtime from work such that I realise how manic, pressurised and stressful my normal working life is. This time allows me to do the things that I normally do not afford time to. I enjoy having a number of small challenges each day (bake a cake, paint the door, write a short article, read an article, cut the grass) and the sense of accomplishment, the idea of being on top of things and the inner satisfaction that one gets. I have begun to enjoy the 'now' much more and stopped 'looking forward' to holidays and weekends and time off. I have become conscious of my own mortality and have fear for my family and friends and feel terrified as I do not know how this event will ever end. As an atheist, I get very annoyed at the idea that some religious fanatics are disregarding the regulations and are trusting in God to protect them from the virus. Equally, I am also annoyed at Donald Trump and Britain's slow response causing multiple deaths. Trump is particularly maddening.

Q. 7 SIMILARITY TO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

No Response.

Q. 8 CHALLENGES AND COPING

No Response.

Q. 9 THE FUTURE

I find it really difficult to see an end to this situation and the idea of returning to 'normal' escapes me. When I meet people I usually give them a kiss and a hug and I think this will go. I am used to teaching students and bringing them on field-trips to places of interest and somehow I can see this disappearing. I would worry about going to a restaurant or going to a match or going to any social grouping and therefore the whole normal social circumstances will be eroded. I think when this crisis lifts what we think as normal will be severely changed and that saddens me.

Q. 10 IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT SPRINGS TO MIND?

No Response.

Q. 11 IN A NUTSHELL

In my lectures in Folklore I cover a whole section on the value of Vernacular Skills and Traditions (Response to need, materials to hand, sufficient to purpose, with a tradition). These range from curragh building, traditional wall types, knitting, baking and cooking, turf-cutting, basket-making, handwriting, singing, dancing, talking, all manner of games &c. &c.) I have often used the idea that the increase in technology has 'disempowered' people from core primal survival instincts and that information technology has distanced people.
The Corona Virus has allowed me a more contemporary example for the innate need to embrace some of the old vernacular technologies other than 'Digging for Victory' during World War II. I am amazed at how the sale of self-raising flour has gone up by 300% and is in short supply and how all the seeds in the garden centre are sold out. This crisis has allowed many to return to the 'simpler pleasures' of doing for themselves and affording a context for empowerment through a series of 'mini-victories' that are internal and not based on external stimuli. However, the use of the new communication technology (WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom) has allowed a very powerful and necessary system to stay in contact and converse with all our close friends and families at this time. I have seen the re-embracing of the vernacular and the value of, what I once cast as its enemy, the Digital mechanisms of communication at work together.

age

51-69

gender

Male