Bright day ushers out a dark time
This is the way one of the darkest periods in our history ends: in a hot, gorgeous day, bright light blazing on the flat blue waters of the isthmus. Auckland, you beauty. The final day of alert level 4 lockdown felt like just another lovely day in summer.
No wonder the rest of the country hates us. A text at midday, from dismal Wellington: “It’s gloomy as. It looks like 6 or 7pm outside.” Not here, not in the city without sails — strange to look out at the sparkling Waitemata¯ these past five weeks of lockdown and not see a single sailing boat.
Typical Auckland to celebrate the end of a narrow, anxious, deathly era by turning on such beautiful weather. Even so, among all the good vibes of families out and about, the day feels significant. It has a weight about it.
I walked around my Te Atatu neighbourhood the other day and came across the St Margaret’s rest home which has suffered a cluster of 16 Covid-19 cases. It was shut tight, more or less boarded. The Prime Minister announced a third death from St Margaret’s at yesterday’s press conference.
That is, the final press conference. The end of alert level mark 4 lockdown has marked the end of “The 1pm Show”, starring Jacinda Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield in the lead roles, ably supported by the press gallery. The whole world watched Ardern worrying out loud that Herald reporter Jason Walls wasn’t getting enough sleep. It made a nice contrast to the increasingly bumptious and actually quite insane press briefings given by the shambling orange Potus.
Today dawns with the promise of fries. I love the smell of a bacon and egg McMuffin with hotcakes in the morning. Strange that the first sign of civilisation emerging from the Covid19 wreckage should be takeaways.
Level 3 lockdown is scarcely less vigilant — “Jot down where you’ve been,” instructed Bloomfield yesterday — dude, you’re amazing, but yeah nah — and true freedom will only be achieved when we can resume that great New Zealand activity of entering the mall.
But it’s two weeks of something better than the big fat nothing of level 4. A lot of these past five weeks was pretty good: the way we all slowed down, the way we all moved in a kind of dream. And we all played our part in doing an incredible thing. We eliminated the virus. We deserve a medal, some souvenir to mark our contribution. Something to hold up to the sun and look at it glowing.