The last normal-ish photo

There is a new hashtag trending on trend world. People are posting the last normal picture they took before lockdown.
I searched my phone and this is the last « normal-ish » picture I found. I look back at my last normal day with my family. It was on the 29th of February, a bissextile day!

What’s normal about this picture is that the little one is chewing his coat, as he does, and that the tiny one is sleeping in the sling on his daddy. I take this picture sipping a coffee in a takeaway cup because I haven’t slept very well. This is because of the tiny one. As usual, I feel a bit bad that I did not take my re-usable cup, which has been used only a handful of times in two years. And then I think about what my brother would say: « We are all doomed anyway ». Well, for once (hehe), he was right.

What is not normal about this picture is that we have a scooter with us. Scooters, a friendly green-haired girl later told us, are not allowed in the Royal Botanic Garden. The little one was not supposed to zoom down the hill slaloming between visitors. Sorry people. Ah, and it’s not raining.
After that day everything was Covid-tainted, even the rain.
The virus only really started to be on my radar at the very start of March, when Italy - not the entire country mind you -  started to get waves of patients with bad pneumonia. I was then selfishly getting worried about the number of healthcare workers getting very sick.
I am not going to lie to you, I did not see that one coming, at all. And, commenting on what could have been done better is a very boring game.
So here’s to normal days, whatever this means.

#mylastnormalphoto (copyright Carrie Bradin inc.)