Canberra (Australia) – A veil of green pools on valley floor. Grey-filled sky billows adding to uncertainty. Will I or won’t I go for a walk? We put on our gardening gear and gumboots to dig in the loam once labelled the garden bed of death. Intermittent sunlight sounds of engines thrumming, dogs barking, bees humming and tiles cracking. Beyond Canberra, on the vast flood plains of eastern Australia, rivers rise, fall and rise again.
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Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.
Canberra’s coronavirus restrictions were eased slightly at the end of last week and will be further eased at the end of this week. Some restrictions will remain but we can now connect again with friends and family, albeit in small numbers. Stay-at-home provisions have applied since Delta arrived here nine weeks ago. During that time, I have taken great comfort from the competent, calm, compassionate and informative approach of public health officials in our local government. The health team and the government could not have been any clearer about what they needed us to do, and because no sector of the community were given preferential treatment over another, Ken Behrens* largely did what was asked of us. I think it is fair to say that at times our Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, outshone others in the spotlight. I’m such a fan.
One of the many strategies to help us open safely has been to get as many Canberrans vaccinated as quickly as possible. Just prior to lockdown, approximately 48 percent of the Canberra population over 12 years of age had had one dose of one of the Covid vaccines, while just shy of 25 percent of us were fully vaccinated. Now 98 percent of us have had one dose and 83 percent of eligible Canberrans are already fully vaccinated. Howzat! Thankfully the rest of Australia is not far behind us. Unfortunately, a small number of Canberrans have died over this period and our hearts go out to their families. The vaccines are very effective but as we have learned there still can be breakthrough infections. There is also likely a growing group of Canberrans whose vaccine protection is waning and who, therefore, will need to get a top up quite soon. It does sound like there will be no rest yet for the public health team and frontline health workers who have been working so tirelessly to keep us safe.
Today, my shout-out is to Canberra’s health workers, and Dr Coleman in particular. Thanks for caring. As Dr Coleman is originally a sand-groper (that is, someone from Western Australia), I thought I would choose my Friday song from a singer/songwriter from that state. Today, I have chosen Andrew Winton, performing his song Number’s Down. How apt, don’t you think? The chorus is very easy, so sing it with me.
Take care, everyone.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
* Each day over the last nine weeks, members of the ACT government have held a press conference to keep Canberrans informed of how the Delta outbreak was unfolding and the necessary steps to keep us safe. During one of these press conferences, there was a sub-titling error that referred to Canberrans as Ken Behrens and henceforth the name has been adopted wholeheartedly by the Canberra community.
For Covid’s sake, a spring procrastination and shopping poem.
Bob’s Hope
Pleased to say nothing much
is going on here in these tetchy,
dodg’em Covid days. So while I might
be quite contrary, I am certain I shall not
be overcome by questions on epidemiology.
Let me explain.
Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.
It has been a distressing week here and across the world for many reasons. These troubles have been the subject of extensive reporting so I won’t go into those matters now. Instead, I would like to acknowledge the incredible work that everyone has been doing in Australia to respond to the growing Delta outbreak here.
The New South Wales government has made some mistakes which has allowed the virus to grow exponentially. We don’t know whether it would have been possible to contain it anyway, but they hesitated. This, however, in no way diminishes the huge effort of frontline and other essential workers, as well as Sydney residents who are turning out to get vaccinated, to try to minimise infections. Thank you all. Great jab.
Many will know that the Sydney outbreak has made its way to Canberra. Here in Canberra, we have just completed our first week of quiet time and movement restrictions. Canberrans have been re-organising their lives, monitoring the growing number of exposure sites, getting tested and otherwise staying at home.
I don’t often heap praise on politicians, but I hope you forgive me this one indulgence. I have been greatly impressed by the responsiveness and swift actions of our local government to keep Canberrans safe. It has been a huge effort and I really, really appreciate it. Of course, I cannot speak for those who have been in quarantine after having caught the virus or who have been a close or casual contact. Our youngest son’s timing was impeccable, missing “the excitement” by a mere hour. Commiserations to those who haven’t been so lucky. I hope you have friends and family who can keep the chips and chocolates flowing to you.
Speaking of chips and chocolates, my eldest son who is in his mid 20s, got tired of waiting for the Pfizer vaccine, so he got the AstraZeneca yesterday. He rang my GP and it took him less than 24 hours to get an appointment to get the jab. Despite my other son’s lucky escape, he has decided to wait for the former. It will be an experiment to see who is fully vaccinated first. There is one thing for sure, and that is, whoever wins will have to go out and get the chips and chocolates. Given the difficulties in obtaining grocery deliveries, I wonder whether this is a reason some people are breaking quarantine in Sydney?
Anyway, I need to turn off the wondering and the wandering for a while. Let’s have a song. Is Norah Jones singing Come Away With Me acceptable? Take us away, Norah.
Stay safe, stay sane, everyone.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.
I’ve almost run out of groceries (no bread or milk left) as I normally get them on Thursday or Friday. Food doesn’t last long in my house with three men and one anxious, stress-eater woman residing therein. I knew I should have gone food shopping yesterday, but the sun was shining so I walked instead. So of course, a Covid case turned up in Canberra (Australia) today – the first local to Canberra case of community transmission in over a year. Anyhoo, this afternoon Canberra went into a snap 7-day lockdown with only a few hours notice. As soon as I heard the news, I dashed across town to get the fish for the dog with the copper storage disease. Unfortunately, I didn’t get into the shopping centre because it was a shit-fight for parking (and no doubt shopping trolleys) so I returned home instead. I also briefly cruised past the little local shopping centre I often frequent but it was pandemonium there too. I did manage to get some Turkish bread from the local takeaway so the lads should be good for a day or so.
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Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.
I have amended this blog post because I was rather unfair in some respects.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has revised its advice on the AstraZeneca Covid 19 vaccine in response to new vaccine safety concerns. it has been recommended that administration of the AZ vaccine be suspended for the 50-59 age group. This group should instead have the Pfizer vaccine (excepting those who have already had their first dose without incident). The AZ vaccine is still recommended for those above 60 years of age. See here for the ATAGI advice.
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Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.
Read moreA few personal thoughts on the Sydney coronavirus outbreak. I’m not an expert. I don’t debate facts or fiction. Best go elsewhere if debate is what you are after.
Sars-Cov-2 has made a break for it again in Sydney, Australia, and we’re all pretty nervous. I bet the 83 people infected over the last week aren’t happy either. This new community outbreak has left many people’s Christmas plans in disarray. On the one hand, I am impressed by the amazing job the New South Wales (NSW) contract tracers have done to identify the chain(s) of infection in Sydney. Thank you, contract tracers! On the other hand, I know further outbreaks are inevitable but I am deeply unimpressed by the circumstances that apparently led to the outbreak in the first place.
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October in Canberra (Australia) – We scent a change. Spring is so poetic.
It has been six days since Canberra recorded an infection of Covid-19. Canberrans send their best wishes for the gentleman’s recovery. With only one active case in my small city, my attention has turned to living.
It has been a relatively wet and stormy month in the national capital – the wettest October in 44 years. On those days when the sun shone, I focused on my garden and on my mosaic projects. For these reasons, and due to magpie hazards, I have had little time for exploration, but it being spring, there are always flowers, and wouldn’t you know, not one rainy day photo in sight. Here’s October.
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Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.
Today I’m dedicating my song/tune choice to all the people in Melbourne, Australia, who are doing their bit to reduce the number of Covid-19 infections in their state of Victoria. It hasn’t been easy. Recriminations abound, but the rest of Australia owes a debt to Victoria. That’s what I think anyway. Others may see it differently.
Restrictions ease slightly from Monday. Stay cool, Melburnians. Stay smart. Stay safe. I’ve got an idea for you.
You know how dentists use a suction tube/straw? I wonder if that could be modified to attach to a coffee cup so that Melburnians could drink coffee with a mask on. This innovation could be called the Suck-cess. What do you think of that idea?
That was a bit of fun. As is the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Enjoy.
Stay safe, stay sane and stay kind, everyone.
As for me, two out of three ain’t bad.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
Reflections of An Untidy Mind 