The Sounds of My Lockdown

The sounds of my lockdown

Yvonne from Garristown Library writes about the new symphony of sounds that she hears everyday while being at home during lockdown.

Being at home during this long period of isolation has provided me with a new routine and with that new routine has come a different soundtrack to my days. There are new sounds in the neighbourhood and there are some noises that I don’t normally hear when I am away from the house all day.

“Sure, yer man is in hospital”. The use of colloquial language made me laugh and I knew straight away who “yer man” was. It was a comment I overheard when three neighbours held a socially distanced conversation during which they sorted out the problems of the world, discussed the future of our economy, had a laugh at Trump and praised Leo and the gang for dealing very well with the crisis in Ireland. The comment was made when they were discussing the coronavirus in the UK and criticising the UK government for being so slow to put restrictions in place. Of course, there was no need to explain who “yer man” was! Roddy Doyle would have loved to listen. Perfect material for his next book or play.   

Click here for Roddy Doyle books and all the other ebooks and audiobooks available for downloading from Borrowbox: https://fe.bolindadigital.com/wldcs_bol_fo/b2i/search.html?isAdvanced=true&b2bSite=4817&browseItemId=

Before the coronavirus struck, I used to enjoy a regular 8km walk along the sea front listening to some mellow music as I walked. Now, with the 2km restrictions in place, I find myself using my home fitness equipment much more than before. Spin 1038 has become my new friend and I am now quite a fan of all the hit music! Ryan Tubridy and Ciara Kelly are from my previous life…these days it’s Spin 1038 for me.

Then there is ten-year old Paddy, our next-door neighbour, who is happy to bounce and kick his football for hours every day. He is football crazy. The ongoing thud of the ball drives me bonkers sometimes but it’s nice to see him finding pleasure in such a simple activity. At least that’s what I tell myself in order to tolerate the constant bounce, kick and smash of his football against the garden wall!   

Mary and Eugene sound very content these days despite the restrictions. The back laneway has become their playground and each afternoon they yelp with happiness as they are allowed outside to race up and down. Did I tell you that Mary and Eugene are the neighbours’ dogs?! The poor things are just delighted to get out of the house at all. Their regular dog-walker is social distancing these days and sadly their owners don’t bring them for walks so the back laneway is their new freedom and their barks have become a new sound in the neighbourhood. It’s the sound I now associate with my lockdown lunchtime. 

The seagulls seem to be lonely for people who used to throw them a few chips and crusts on their visits to the sea. They have come inland and their presence on the rooftops has increased. Their squawks are becoming a regular sound nowadays. The blackbird was singing for days in our own back yard. He must have found the mate he was looking for because there is no sight nor sound from him now.

The helicopter rumbles through the sky every day checking that there are no social gatherings taking place anywhere.

Within the house I hear the whirl of the washing machine a lot more these days because everything in sight is getting washed. The husband curses because I have beaten him at chess again! The cooker is humming more than usual as there is some experimental cooking and baking taking place! It could be a long time before we travel to Portugal again, so I need to learn how to replicate those delicious pastéis de nata tarts.

It is worth checking out the BBC Good Food magazine for some excellent recipes and to browse the hundreds of other e-magazines which are available to you for free from Fingal Libraries. https://lgma.rbdigitalglobal.com/magazine/5059/481379

The voices of Dr. Tony Holohan, Simon Harris and Leo Varadkar have become the mainstay of our evenings. They are like parental figures to everyone during this crisis. Theirs are the voices we trust and whose advice we adhere to and we hope that one day they will give us news that everything will be ok again.

The saddest sound of my lockdown is the sound of my own cries on receiving the news of a relative who has been told he has only three weeks to live. I cried for days. For months the hospitals have ignored his complaints of pain and now previously undiagnosed cancer is killing him. We can’t visit him and he probably won’t live to see the end of the lockdown.

In general, the most common sound of all during this lockdown is the bing of our phones constantly delivering WhatsApp messages, funny videos and witty jokes which have ensured that laughter is, as usual, the main sound in our house and has remained so during the lockdown.

Yvonne, Fingal Libraries