How Bizzare

google.com/amp/s/news.sky.c...

[Sunnie2day]

This is just my personal opinion but the only bizarre part is the headline - the body of the piece makes it clear what Britons mean by not wanting life to return to normal post-pandemic is they are happy with the way pollution is down (less traffic means less air pollution, less foot traffic means less littering, more) and the way people in general are treating one another better.

I went outside last night (to my garden only, I solemnly promise!) and looked up - owing to the lockdown there is even less light pollution in my area and I really haven't seen that many stars since 1996 when I was standing in a Guatemalan coffee field as night set in. I live in a rather small town in a semi-rural area of NE Scotland yet usually there is enough light pollution from business and homes even into the wee hours that only the brightest constellations are visible.

My home is secluded and surrounded by trees and shrubbery so I've routinely enjoyed the presence of songbirds and hedgehogs (yes, all my neighbours have cut 'hedgehog highways through our adjoining walls and fencing) but since the lockdown has restricted people movement I've had kestrels stopping, and at night I'm hearing and seeing more owls than I've ever seen 'in the wild' before.

I live off the main roads through town down an unpaved 'goat track' lane any ambulance or fire engine would be unable to pass but close enough to those main roads that I can hear motor traffic if I am outside. Now it doesn't matter the time of day or night I'm out there - there simply is no motor traffic sound. No buses, no cars or motorbikes, nothing but the very occasional sound of a delivery lorry on a run to the local supermarket. And I haven't heard a police or ambulance siren in weeks when once I heard at least two sirens a day.

Wouldn't it be nice if once the pandemic ends we all try to treat one another better, maintain a healthy distance in public (no more queue creeping until there is barely a cigarette paper distance), washed our hands and coughed and sneezed into a tissue we then dropped in a bin rather than onto the pavement? Wouldn't it be lovely if we all used our cars as rarely as possible? Wouldn't it be peaceful if we all turned off our outdoor lights and sat in the garden enjoying the star show?

Never happen, of course - twenty minutes after lockdown is lifted the pubs will reopen, the dual carriageways will be tail-backed for miles, and people will revert to unhygienic habits that spread virus and bacteria.

sigh

[Sunnie2day]

One of the reasons I go out to the garden at night is to look for the meteor showers - I'm such a meteor shower nut I actually have a word doc on my desktop noting optimal viewing dates and times.

Last year was a bit of a damp squib owing to many nights being overcast but this year I've seen several 'shooting stars', it's shaping up to be a very good year for star gazing!

[Maisie2014]

Sounds lovely Sunnie2day

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

There's clearly a lot of problems being created by this lock down, jobs losses, mental health issues to name just two, but there are a number of positives, which is what the survey revealed.

From my own point of view, it's lovely to have much cleaner air, to walk outside in the morning and not smell vehicle pollution. Liverpool airport has to all intents closed down, so no aircraft noise either - it's nice to sit in the garden in almost total silence. Where I live the 7 takeaways have closed - so that means less litter on the floor, as a result the Herring gulls have given up looking for the food humans carelessly drop, and if everyone is shunning eating takeaways perhaps our diet may improve.

Quiet a few of my neighbours, who I've near seen walking, have taken up going for a walk, which also must be a good move.

Finally I hope that we will all appreciate the people who have really mattered in this pandemic. the NHS, carers, shop workers, delivery drivers, the charities that are helping others, the majority of whom are not paid a huge amount but are putting themselves at risk, while the overpaid footballers, venture capitalists, bankers, and the majority of billionaire business owners hide away in their mansions scheming how they can make money out of all this.

I really hope we'll have a better society when all this is over, it might be overly optimistic, but none of us have ever been where we are now, so who knows!

[gladliz]

Here in N. Wales, since the mines and steel works all closed we have had less air pollution, (no more soot spots on the washing) and since lock down the roads have been so much quieter. Driving to the supermarket the other day was surreal. Our village is not particularly noisy but birdsong is more noticeable and stars brighter. One can only hope that the trend continues when restrictions lifted but I very much doubt it. Sunny2day probably has it right in their post.