Do you remember counting the lockdown in days? I do! I got to day 54 and the first deconfinement before I gave up. Three lockdowns means three deconfinements. It’s been a rollercoaster!

Like the third lockdown being the hardest, I think the third deconfinement is the hardest too. Before the pandemic started, we were living in France. Aaron was working at CERN and I’d just left Twisper (who I’ve now heard are falling apart at the seams – threatening staff, not paying salaries etc. Can’t say I’m surprised!). We were living a French lifestyle and enjoying the incredibly scenic Alps. We’d spend Friday evenings having fondue with our friends, and Sundays skiing. Our post-work beers were often in the CERN canteen. It was a big part of our lives.

Fast forward 13 months (France went into lockdown before the UK), and the world we’ll go back into is very different. We’re now in the UK, both doing different jobs, and living a very different lifestyle. There is no skiing in the Pennines and no weekend fondue, but at least the beer is much cheaper! The people I’ll see every day are completely different. While it’s nice to be closer to family, I miss the friends we had in Geneva.

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I know I’m not the only one who is a bit nervous about lockdown ending. Partly there’s nervousness about what is safe to do. When should I go back into the office? Will we actually be able to see friends at the pub? Is opening up everything a good idea? I saw a statistic from the New Scientist the other day. In July, one third of the population still won’t have any natural or vaccine-derived immunity to COVID. That’s a lot of people. While the vulnerable people will have been vaccinated by then, there are still a lot of people who could find themselves at risk of serious illness. I wonder if it will change people’s views if they will be the ones affected.

Then there’s also nervousness because I’m not sure what the new normal will look like. I haven’t seen one of my brothers in 15 months. I haven’t seen a lot of my friends for a similar amount of time. Just like we adjusted to Zoom gatherings, I’m sure we’ll adjust to face to face meetings again. It’ll just take some time.

All this said, I’ve started to look forward to things opening up again. I’ve booked outdoor wine tasting in April, and even a beer festival in July. Given how chaotic they can be, it’ll actually be more pleasant if there are limited numbers and social distancing! I suppose there are silver linings.

Another benefit of things opening up is I can spend some more time out from under my not-future-mother-in-law’s feet. Needless to say, we still haven’t moved into our house. We put the offer in over 5 months ago and it feels like we’ve been days away from exchange for months. As much as I love my not-future-in-laws, I think I’d love them more if we weren’t living under the same roof 24/7. We’re also all looking forward to decorating and furnishing the new house. Well all apart from Aaron that is. As long as he has an internet connection and wine cellar, he’s fairly flexible on everything else!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a lot at the moment. Movement on the house, seeing friends again, and a safe reopening. I’m convinced everything will go to plan, but what else can we do but hope?