Life in the Time of CoVid-Day 6 LOCKDOWN
April 1st : Lockdown-Day 6
I considered beginning this post with a fake news flash that CoVid was gone. Sick-sick-sick April Fool’s joke. I know. In my head I hear Lexi saying “Inappropriate, Mother.” She calls me “Inappropriate” often enough that it’s a stored recording. I’ve been head talking again. I woke this morning jabbering away to the universe. I haven’t done that in no clue how long. Or maybe I have, but all the other busy-ness crowded out my own thoughts.
The Horrifying Truth:
Worldwide: 862, 574 confirmed cases of CoVid 19; 42, 528 deaths
USA: 189,592; Italy: 105,792; Spain: 95,923; China: 81,554; Indonesia: 1,677
South Africa: 1,353 confirmed cases; 5 deaths; 39,500 tests conducted so far.
But, WE HAVE POWER! No joke! But, big surprise! Pre-dawn, I woke, went into the “loo” (“Loo is South African for toilet.) and flipped the switch. Light nearly blinded me! That’s when the “WE HAVE POWER!” light went off in my head. Because here, one never knows when you flip the switch, or want a shower, or need a charge, whether or not it will work. South Africa is Loadshedding.
South Africa is in a major electric crisis. The Power plants aren’t able to generate enough electricity. As a result depending on demand, the power is shut off. Everywhere. Yes, you can be in the middle of dinner, in the mall, at a restaurant, the doctor’s office and everything suddenly goes dark.
“Any country’s success with containment could be tenuous, and the world could remain on a kind of indefinite lockdown.”
WEAR A MASK!
Loadshedding has stages. Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3—up to Stage 8, depending on demand. Level 1 means 1000 megawatts of power need to be shed, or not used in one area so it can be used elsewhere. Stage 2 means 2000 megawatts, etc. For example, Port Alfred would be loadshedding so Port Elizabeth, about 98 miles away, could operate. I’m not sure how the stages translate to how long the power is out.
“load·shed·ding. noun. the deliberate shutdown of electric power in a part or parts of a power-distribution system, generally to prevent the failure of the entire system when the demand strains the capacity of the system. ”
Here’s what we experienced: when loadshedding the power would be off 1 time a day for 2 hours; on one Stage 4 day the power was cut 3 times for 2 hours at a time. As inconvenient as it sounds it’s better, we learned from the Masons living in Johannesburg, than the sometimes 8 hour-long power cuts they experience. Loadshedding Schedules are published (if one has Internet capability to find it).
During LOCKDOWN with every non-essential shutdown, SA is not Loadshedding. Thrilling…disappointing…ironic…not sure how to feel. Should we be saying thank you CoVid-19 for forcing us to finally heed the warning and use less power?
JUST IN: First repatriation flight leaves South Africa to Brazil. A total of 321 passengers were on LATAM flight to Sau Paulo, Brazil. (Is this an April Fool’s Joke?)
Look closely…there’s a bird in that bush
Power isn’t the only thing more abundant. Birds are singing more and louder! (Or maybe they always have been and, like my head talk, we just couldn’t hear them.)
Talk about surreal, were we really “On Safari” at Shamwari Game Reserve this time last week? Birds! One thing one of our ranger/game guides, Wesley (who was a pompous, condescending Jack#$!) knows is birds. He wowed us by not only spotting and describing then, but also copying their calls.
On those early morning game drives, he’d cut the motor. (Or when walking, following the game drive single-file, we’d stop.) There, in silence so fine grass crackled and giraffe huffing and elephant farts were loud, he drew out attention to the birds. Birds don’t simply sing to sing. They claim their spots—in the bush or trees or grass—and sing out: I’m here! I’m here!
Helps that Gloria keeps the feeder well-stocked!
Manderley Lodge is a house, in the midst of a suburb of Cape Town. When we arrived, even last Wednesday evening, and the morning after, even in the darkest hour traffic noises droned. Now, when I wake, or sit, I hear breezes, leaves talking, the tots playing a few fences over, and birds.
When CoVid-19 is conquered/contained, Lockdown, Social Distancing, Shelter-in Place is over, will we immediately amp up to previous stages—or beyond?
Or? They say one can break a habit in 3 weeks. Will we have learned something by this slow down? Will using less energy become a habit in 21 days or 90 days or more?