The Lockdown was shifting the relationship. Throughout the autumn, and the dank winter months, the couple were housebound. Yep, sure there were the park walks with the pooch, even the weekly, masked drive to Aldi, IGA and the new-found Asian Grocer but further afield was off-limits. Friends were no longer able to pop in for a cuppa and a chat. But it belatedly dawned on them that they weren’t particularly concerned.
There was a new rhythm, rejigged routines, a lighter pace. Taylor bought an e-reader and within a week of its homecoming, Ashley followed suit and the pair agreed to download the same books. It morphed into a petit book club.
Separate, photocopied Quick crossword, Sudoku and Target remained as the underpinning of their mid-morning mental manipulations, the inability to easily venture out had brought the Cryptic also into play. The ludicrous clues sometimes brought forward an argument, but increasing bouts of laughter, occasionally lewd interpretations and guffaws! A loudly exclaimed “What on earth does … ‘an indication of emotion from an unknown number before first session amid returning noise (10)’… mean?” brought the pooch looping in from the kitchen, concern and angst writ large on its face!
The household was softening, but while snoring and doona-snaffling kept two bedrooms occupied, there was now a lot more kitchen togetherness. They had started to collect The Age’s Adam Lieu and Kylie Kwong’s Home Made supplements, and their shopping lists began to include coriander, limes, vegetable and sesame oils, oyster sauce and a couple of styles of soy. Fresh bunches of basil, baby Dutch carrots, fresh ginger, Singapore and Udon noodles were in the basket, and while Ashley chopped, Taylor worked the wok! The kitchen felt laughter again!
The television still didn’t inspire, apart from an hour on a Wednesday evening, quizzing with Tom and manically giggling with Micallef and his team. A friend had paid for a Netflix subscription and had explained how to use I-view, but within 24 hours, neither Taylor nor Ashley could remember the operating instructions. A good Roquefort, water crackers and a delightful, albeit pricey Taylor’s Chardonnay made Wednesdays a weekly celebration of contentment.
Sunshine and warmth were returning with the spring, and there were shared weeding hours. Marigolds were sewn around the roses and fruit trees, ostensibly to attract lacewings, to munch the aphids! Ashley finally went for a medical test, resulting in the fitting of a hearing aid. There was an admission that much dialogue, music, birdsong and the background hum of their suburban existence had remarkedly, returned!
There was a large glass, half full of water supporting a bunch of tangerine, lemon and plum-coloured, stemmed roses, freshly picked from the garden.
Covid, despite all its ills, had brought a new rapprochement!