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Week 50 - our guest this week is our erstwhile Storyteller from Texas

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 Edited BY G P Kennedy Graeme - North Texas  I got my second shot last Tuesday. My Liberation Day is Monday, April 12th. Four million Americans - residents of the United States - received a vaccine in a single day this week. The country now has the will and the skill to administer vaccines safely, in huge numbers. As of this writing, nearly 20% of all US residents are fully vaccinated. Around a further 30% have had their first dose. Nearly half of the population is fully vaccinated or on the road to there. There is a sense that the end is in sight. Here in Texas, our governor lifted the mask mandate and opened up the state 100% on March 10. People continue to do what Texans have done for 150 years or more - their own thing. Most businesses still require masks and most people choose to wear them when out and about.  I got my shots because I registered early, and benefitted from being in a priority category. Educators are considered first responders for the purposes of...
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Week 50 - Hope springs in Liverpool

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 Edited BY G P Kennedy Olivia - Liverpool, UK We’ve just celebrated the Easter bank holiday weekend here in the UK. The four much-coveted days off work were gloriously bright and sunny, by UK standards that is.  This Easter, things are looking up in the UK. COVID-19 infection rates are at their lowest since September. It is hoped that all adults will have been offered their first jab by the end of July.  The government’s ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ is still on track. For one week now, people have been allowed to meet a limited number of friends and family members in parks and gardens.   In another week, outdoor hospitality venues can reopen, as well as all shops, hairdressers, gyms, libraries, and community centers.  There is a feeling of anticipation, as these are liberties that haven’t been available to us yet in 2021.  Beer gardens across the country will no doubt be flooded as people get a taste of freedom just in time for summer.  On top of t...
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Week 49 - Simon says, 'Count your blessings my fellow Aussies'

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Edited BY G P Kennedy Simon - Perth, WA   Hi everyone, hope all is well wherever you are.  So here we are at the end of March in Western Australia, which means over 12 months of the Pandemic.   Across all of the country, the vaccines are being slowly rolled out but we are not hitting our intended targets.   This seems to be a combination of lack of supply and the doses being given by GP’s rather than at vaccination centers. I guess the only thing that stops this from being a real concern is the size of our case numbers.   The vast majority of our small number of cases is from returned overseas travelers who are put in quarantine anyway.   This week sees a small outbreak in Queensland with some community transmission. This has led to a snap three-day lockdown to try and contain it and perform contact tracing.  Going forward it looks like this will happen fairly frequently. We have demonstrated that these short and sharp lockdowns seem...
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Week 49 - One step forward and two back in Pakistan

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Edited BY G P Kennedy Tassy - Karachi, Pakistan  A lot has happened since my last post. On the surface, Pakistan`s vaccination effort seems to have had a flying start.   After vaccinating health workers at the beginning of March, they began to open up the registration process for over-Seventies, followed soon by over-Sixties.   Yesterday a news report said that the over-Fifties age group could start registering their names from 30th March (Yay for me!). From my social circle and extended family, everyone I know over the age of 60 has now had their first jab.   They have all also been notified of dates for their second shots in three weeks' time. The process has been smooth and efficient from what I have heard. As I said, all looks good on the surface but the issue we are facing multiple barriers.  A large portion of health workers refused to take the jabs; only a tiny percentage of the over-Sixties have actually registered; with 90% of the popula...
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Week 48 - Gul reflects on a year in lockdown

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Edited BY G P Kennedy Gul - Aegean Coast, Turkey COVID-19 PANDEMIC ANNIVERSARY  This time last year, we locked ourselves in our flat in Istanbul. Looking back is making me melancholic.   I knew things were going to be different at the beginning of March 2020. I was following the news about the virus very closely but life was continuing on the one hand.   Our daughter was going to visit us on March 11, then my mother-in-law. Right after, another friend of mine. Our life was so full that I had to check my agenda to avoid missing anything.   The last ‘normal’ moment was a friend’s birthday gathering on the 8 th  of March. Then everything is on hold, as we all know.   One year on, I fear that things will never be quite like they were. The lockdown has affected me very much.   I don’t miss crowds at all, and I certainly don’t miss traffic and pollution but I miss hugs, eating indoors, just walking through shops touching everything ...
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Week 48 - Spring in and around Milan

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 Edited BY G P Kennedy Ellie - Milan, Italy    Spring is already here. It has been here for a few weeks, actually. And its lessons, delivered by nature around me, made me think of how to read and then apply their wisdom to life.     So I decided to try to find out what advice they have for me; what life mottos and messages I need to accept.   Pain behind Beauty  People gasp with admiration for these plants. They are succulents that survive low temperatures. But they do that at the price of getting this red flaming color.     I have a bunch of them in the yard and a pot of them under a balcony. So, interesting enough, only the exposed bunch that withstood winter in the open got their red. Their color is a reaction to suffering.     And yes, this is the word that is used in Italian - plants suffer. When one admires a beautiful one it's worth asking if that beauty was caused by pain.   Patience  Last summer, I ...
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