Today I cycled 43 miles with a friend. We kept a safe distance between each other and anyone else we saw. The UK now has no pubs, cafes, restaurants etc open. People must not meet in groups. The vulnerable are self isolating. However, we are OK to go outside and get exercise, hence my ride. It was a beautiful sunny day albeit a cold Easterly wind.
During my ride I only saw three planes in the sky, I saw shops and cafes closed but I saw people out cycling and walking. In the countryside there was an uncanny, but beautiful silence. The daffodils and many other wild flowers were in abundance and swaying in the wind as if in defiance of the virus. Birds were singing and people at home were in their gardens enjoying the sun. We waived to people and they waived back.
Satellite pictures of the Earth are now showing reduced levels of pollution over China and Italy where quarantine measures are in place. Maybe the Earth has brought us the CoronaVirus to heal and clean itself. The price to pay is high with deaths on the increase but maybe, just maybe, after it is all over, us humans may have learnt a huge lesson, that it is our actions that are destroying our planet and we need to live and work together to look after our beautiful World.
