Day 2 of Quarantine

I spent a very unsettled night, trying to come to grips with how rapidly everything had changed. Not only had I just made an unplanned rush across the plant from Cuba back to Melbourne, but the place that I had returned to was so completely different to the one that I had left, just three weeks earlier.

Alone in an empty house, I was not sure what to do. I still had my luggage scattered around. The memories of my time in Cuba were already beginning to blur and fade in my mind. In some ways it felt like I was still in some sort of crazy dream and that I would be able to awake to the familiar world that I had left.

The combined effects of exhaustion and jetlag made me feel weak and disoriented. I was quite surprised when one of my sons told me that it was Saturday. Things had happened so fast that I semed to be operating outside of the normal progresion of time.

I spent quite some time on a succession of phone calls from people who had been following our progress and who were concerned that we may be trapped overseas. High in my thoughts was the welfare of those who were still in Cuba. I knew that I could not relax until they were all safely home.

The rest of the day I spent catching up on the laundry. This is always part of my routine when getting back to Australia, but with the feeling that microscopic viruses could be hiding everywhere, the task assumed an even higher priority than usual.

Although my quarantine has only just begun, I am already feeling the effects of loneliness and isolation. We normally take so much more granted in life, including the simple priviledge of being surounded by family. It is a horrible feeling to be separated and not know when you will be able to interact with them again. I can see that the next 12 days will drag by slowly. Although I have plenty of books to read and videos to watch, I am already missing the company of others.

On the positive side I can report that I have no signs of fever or cough, so that is encouraging.Read more