Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics are intimate friends. In order for a pandemic to end we must learn to do without things that we need. We go without meeting friends for months, we go without hugs or handshakes for months. We go without restaurants, bars, cafés or cinemas for months. We go without needing the internal combustion for days at a time....
Posts tagged “solitude”
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Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics — May 31, 2020 -
Four Hundred And Sixty Eight Days Of Self Isolation — Jul 1, 2021The pandemic is still alive and well and the hope that we might have had that the pandemic would end has been scuppered because governments refuse to work towards COVID-Zero, and they refuse to be cautious. It is disheartening to see with which complacency governments are sleeping back into exactly the same mistake as last summer. Last summer they allowed the numbers to climb, and ignored the risk of another wave, and this summer they are making the same mistake....
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Day Twenty-eight of ORCA in Switzerland – A Photo Walk — Apr 12, 2020Today I went on a photo walk. Since walking far is now out of the question if you want to be consistently socially distanced it makes sense to go out with a different purpose. When the purpose of the walk is to take photos you can afford to walk up a hill, or between two people to avoid being too close.... -
Day Sixteen of ORCA in Switzerland – Pandemic Solitude — Mar 31, 2020I was writing a Facebook post when I thought of the term Pandemic Solitude and I love it so much that I wanted to use it as a title for today’s blog post. For most people during the pandemic the order is, stay with the people you live with but avoid being close to others.... -
Day Four of Orca in Switzerland - Exploring the Trail Less Travelled — Mar 19, 2020Today is Day Four of Orca in Switzerland and I saw that the Canton in which I live has the most active cases of COVID19 so my motivation both to go to shops and to go for walks has taken a hit. At the same time I don’t know whether it’s COVID 19 that is having this effect or the fact that I walked a theoretical 197.2 kilometres since the start of this month for the March Activity challenge.... -
Day 60 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – The Sixtieth Day of Solitude. — May 14, 2020It’s the sixtieth day of solitude for some of us and if we look at Twitter we see that people in other countries are suffering. One person spoke of the dark dog whilst another expressed distress. A third expresses another emotion. Around the world we see people suffering and trying to cope in their own unique ways.... -
On Solitude, Cycling, and Whatsapp — Nov 12, 2025The more I use Whatsapp, in the Post pandemic age, the more toxic I find it. Last night I wrote something innocent. I wrote about rotisserie chicken and the temptation to have some before drinks. So far, so normal.... -
Cycling to the Airport and Ice Skating — Oct 27, 2025A week ago I proposed a bicycle ride to Mies, before stopping at the Port de Crans for coffee. Quite a few people joined the chat but no one committed to turning up. I woke up in the morning and said "I’m thinking of setting off early, since no one had confirmed. When no one said “wait, wait, wait” I set off on my bicycle ride.... -
SAD Autumn - Seasonal or Solitary? — Sep 26, 2025For years I have hated the shift from Summer weather to Autumn because as the days get shorter, and the weather gets colder, so summer sports come to an end. As summer sports come to an end, so the seasons of solitude begin. Autumn and Winter are lonely. The paradox is that I felt this way even when I was scuba diving every Sunday, and climbing every Thursday.... -
The Tuesday Solo Ride — Jul 23, 2025Yesterday I didn’t dress for cycling. My plan was to see if I could get the power meter to work and then go for a short ride. In the end I found that as one device failed to detect them I would try a second. The second worked after a few seconds. I calibrated the pedal, and then I went for a short ride.... -
The Seasonal Desire Not to do Things — Feb 1, 2025Tomorrow I could go for a drive and then walk on snow shoes to get to the top of a peak I have wanted to go up for a while. What slows down my desire to do this is the possible need to wear snowshoes. In theory they’re fine but ordinarily I find snowshoeing quite hard compared to just walking in snow. The advantage of this walk is that if it was cold and people have already walked the route, then the snow is compacted and walking in hiking shoes will be fine.... -
The Daily Workout — Oct 20, 2024Every single day I walk, run, or cycle. It doesn’t matter whether it’s rainy, sunny, windy, snowy or other. I do this out of habit. I know of quite a few routes that I can walk, run or cycle so there are variants. Some are long, some are short. If it’s going to rain I may choose a shorter route....
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Almost Linear Walks — Jan 29, 2024Twice in the last two weekends I have done linear rather than circular walks. By linear I don’t mean that I walked from A to B. I mean that I started walking along a loop but when I saw that the routes I wanted to walk were either crowded by couples or people with dugs I will either turn around, or walk across a field to a parallel path that is less crowded.... -
The Long Walk and More Playing with Nextcloud — Dec 25, 2023Two days ago I went for a longer walk than usual. I walked along roads rather than along the narrow agricultural roads I normally use. I wanted to avoid crowds and dog walkers. The thing about solitude is that it’s enjoyable when you are not reminded that you are alone.... -
Walking in Heavy Rain — Dec 9, 2023I knew that it would rain heavy yesterday (at the time when you read this) so I considered running so that I would spend less time in the weather. The issue, at this time of year, is that if you run you need to do so before the sun sets but you also want to wear lighter clothes, for running to be easier....
