Same again with knobs on

The thing about lockdown, locked in, locked up whatever it is called, is this. The four walls (actually I count at least 32 different walls in my house) become the cage that we pace.  So today was the same again with knobs on. I remember seeing big cats at Belfast Zoo when I was a kid, they were pacing from one end of the cage to the other and back again and back again and back again.  Later I learned that this restless behaviour was called "stereotypic". Now I have become that stereotype; pacing, restless and just a little distressed.  I will survive, I am strong in my head, I know about this stuff, I know how to deal with it. But I suspect that there is a huge build up of mental distress out there in the population at large and I think it is going to result in a tsunami of pressure on the health services when this is all over.  In more upbeat news, we were able to escape the 32 walls for a time  today and work outside pruning roses, shifting stone and barrowing muck and breathing in the fresh air. And I cooked confit de canard for dinner, hard fried until crisp, served with parmentier potatoes, green beans and cabernet sauvignon. I guess we'll get through.