“It’s like Piccadilly Circus out there!”
Today marks the first day that the sea is no longer off limits! If today is your ‘surname day’ of L-Z then you have access to Cayman’s beaches and waterways. Public beaches are open! Swimming and kayaking is ok! Fishing is allowed! Boating is permitted, but as long as you’re fishing, adhering to the two people limit, not partying, not speeding, not visiting the island’s four key spots of natural beauty, and not venturing too far from the shore, (in which case you’d be subject to fourteen days’ quarantine upon return). Got that?
If you didn’t quite catch that, and your surname falls in A-K, then at least you’ve got until 5.15am tomorrow to work it all out.
D hasn’t moved from his position on the couch since 6.06am. He’s perched at the end of his seat, holding his binoculars up intently, leaning slightly forward, looking out towards the sea.
His ‘Piccadilly Circus’ comment sounds outdated. I bet Piccadilly isn’t so busy today I think to myself.
“I’ve seen 29 boats pass by already!” he exclaims.
“Do you think they’re all fishing?” I ask.
“No, I think they’re all just glad to be out.”
I make the morning tea while I receive his running commentary, ”There are three people on that boat!”, ‘That guy’s definitely speeding”, “the police just pulled up to a boat that’s anchored”, “there’s a kite surfer out there… two kite surfers, …three!”
I imagine everyone in Cayman, who doesn’t normally visit the beach or swim, is rushing to the sea today. It’s a positive thing, Caymanians need it right now more than ever. This Coronavirus has been throughly disrupting, beyond instilling fear, it has obliterated any sense of schedule and structure we once had. These past few months it has felt like time is slipping away from us. While we’ve doing the Stay Home thing, the days have melded in all together, there’s no distinction between the work week and the weekend. We’ve lost sense of time, and what time it is. I seem to utter “Is it 5.30pm already?’ quite a lot, before we take the reluctant dog out for her evening walk. Every. Day. While we are all enduring this perpetual time loop in lockdown, reliving the same day over and over, something special, like a dip in the ocean, becomes the cure to our trauma – a moment to savour – that might just keep us going. At least until it’s our surname day again.
CI Gov Press briefing: 17 new cases, of 1182 results. 111 total. 55 recovered. No one is in hospital. Cayman is in the Top 8 of global countries for testing per head. The Premier warns us against growing complacency as the media suggests ‘Covid-fatigue’ is setting in. Just because none of our cases are sick, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to be vigilant, we are cautioned. During the briefing, Cayman Compass reporter Reshma Ragoonath apologises to the Premier for losing track of what day it is.
It’s Tuesday, Reshma, err..I think.
Getting my vitamin sea therapy.