It would be very tempting to head off to the municipal park in Morges right now to see the annual display of tulips; with all the current sunshine, I imagine the grounds are looking magnificent. But until the 30th April, it’s out of bounds. Visiting these gardens doesn’t really come under the government’s “stay at home” advice anyway. It would be equally lovely to sit in a café and meet friends over a coffee, but of course we can’t do that either.
And yet, although there are many things we cannot do, there are many things that we can. One of these is clapping or ringing cowbells each night to say “un grand merci” to all the doctors, nurses, health and key workers currently working in difficult circumstances. Another is simply taking the time to appreciate the sound of all the birdsong around us. It is so much quieter outside with less traffic around. Thank goodness Spring hasn’t been cancelled and neither has Visions du Réel, which starts today, in a different format this year as all the films will be
screened for us to watch at home.
Those who have a bit more time on their hands are learning new subjects via online classes. I too have started a course called “An Introduction to Classical music”. The last class compared the strong beat in a Jon Bon Jovi song to a subdued beat in a piano concerto by Peter Tchaikovsky. It’s interesting and has no exam at the end, which suits me fine. Whereas the end result of the cake I made a couple of weeks ago was a disaster. It was so hard and solid; it could have been used in the actual construction of the Nyon Usine à gaz extension. I then decorated around
the top of this cake with a circle and lines of Smarties (small round coloured chocolates). My friends said that it looked like Covid-18 before it mutated.
Many people are keeping busy by volunteering and shopping for others. Some are helping by simply following the “je sauve des vies, je reste chez moi” policy. Others are giving a hand to the local winemakers by adopting the “je sauve des vignes, je bois à la maison” slogan. Thank goodness, having a sense of humour is not cancelled and making jokes is something we can all still do.
Catherine Nelson Pollard, blogueuse sur livinginnyon.ch