We're part of this world

Day 19 of Lockdown in Wellington NZ as we’re trying to combat an outbreak of the Delta variant. Here in Wellington we’re “lucky” - we’re at Level 3 with all the rest of NZ except for Auckland. This is a slightly lower alert level, but essentially pretty similar - with non-contact, takeaway food and goods, and more workplaces allowed to operate (safely) such as construction.

It looks promising - our case numbers are falling away dramatically due to our severe lockdown though we’re warned they could bounce back or have a long tail.

This is encouraging given that our mates over the Tasman seem to be losing the fight …

But here’s why I’ve hit the blog key again after days of nothing - I’m reflecting on smugness.

(Also, I’ve finally recovered from the bug - not Covid - and not only do I feel well and can exercise, but I am finally getting ideas again. I was rather shocked during my actually quite mild illness that I felt like I had nothing to say. But, at least I recognised that and didn’t blog anyway …)

Back to smugness. I’ve been getting this vibe through various channels in the last few days that some (especially offshore) folk see NZrs as rather smug about our Covid elimination goal and relative success and it’s starting to pall.

Some with this perspective are NZrs overseas, especially those who’ve been struggling to book MIQ places in what seems to be an ongoing losing gamble, with loaded dice. A friend in LA wrote an article to this effect that was published in the NZ press.

To others who’re confronting the reality of the Delta variant overseas our elimination goal is a pipe dream, even where they’ve had good vaccination rates.

And, on a personal level, I have a daughter who’s at large in the world. She’s angry (true she’s been angry since she was a child), but I am shamed by her awareness of the state of poorer nations and the huge impact of climate change.

There’s also a subterranean rumble now herein NZ about having to open up at some point.

What a terrible wake up call it was to have a terrorist attack in Auckland 2 days ago! I imagine that most Kiwis were like me and could just imagine themselves innocently at the supermarket, masked, dealing with lockdown, and focused on the now slightly unpleasant job of replenishing the home shelves. How shocking the attack must have been. How terrible for the injured, some critically so. How frightening.

It’s a grim reminder that we’re not cut off from the rest of the world.

Here I am at home. I’m immersed in a creative cocoon working on my various LOTR costume and prop projects and loving it (the Hobbit pipes are progressing well, and I’m stoked that Richard Taylor said my Theoden armour and helmet were awesome).

But, I don’t want to be smug. I don’t want to forget that “‘I’m’ part of this world” as Merry so importantly reminded the Ents. I don’t want to be home in the Shire forgetting about the wider issues of our world.

I’m so bad at this. I just want to keep working on what I love doing. But, I can’t. It’s not right. So, here I am blogging again for better or worse. I am so grateful for being here in NZ, but please, please don’t let me be smug. Here’s to being part of this world, Kathy x

PS, some “pipe” dream pics of my own