I bought a giant roll of toilet paper at the corner shop this morning. Yesterday, I tried four different shops and went home with nothing. Today, success. At the Asian store on the High Street, I bought a 10 kilo bag of rice, mung beans, ginger, red chillies and pandang. Two of my students were browsing the aisles. They saw me at the till and asked if I was shopping for the apocalypse. I said yes, and laughed.
But oh, times are so serious. London might be under lockdown tomorrow. My university went to online-only teaching two days ago. The schools close tomorrow.
In the midst of all the COVID-19 emails in my inbox was a request from a colleague for a writing prompt I’d shared at a conference in London years ago. He said it was calming and that he thought it might help his students during this time of crisis. The writing exercise is about how to get started writing a story, poem or play for a friend–it’s a way of staying connected. I’ve modified it slightly and am sharing it with you. Listen to the audio here.
Please take care, friends. Here’s a bit of music, ‘Come Let Go’ from Xavier Rudd, to help you remember all the people you’re connected to during this difficult time when we can so easily forget.
Our Canadian schools (public and unis) closed last week, and the unis not already online, are working to get there. I am working from home. My kids are at home from their schools and the restaurant they work at has closed, and I think, will not re-open. It was teetering before all this.
Thank you for the writing prompt. I was thinking this would be a great time to write actual letters to friends, although because I’m able to work from home, I haven’t noticed any extra time, ha, ha!
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