Lockdown was a test to one’s tenacity and patience, in more ways than one. Personally, home-schooling unwilling tech savvy kids, whilst simultaneously trying to do justice to other responsibilities and staying positive at the same time, a mighty task. Some fortunate individuals on furlough, may have had a slightly more pleasant experience or not had dependents to care for. Given the opportunity, I too may have spent this time, gardening, cooking, reading, playing games, smelling the roses, counting bees, feeding the cat, taking one’s dog for a walk.

However, the reality was, that despite a few a garden walks, the rest of my waking moments were spent, feeling anxious regarding family members, whilst grateful for the few liberties which included savouring the children’s baking treats. Incidentally my son watched back-to-back episodes of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (Lemony Snicket), which was perfect from a cinematic point of view and followed the turbulent lives of three orphaned children, via a black comedy medium, but this did nothing to put to rest one’s own concerns.

Post covid, we emerged, only slightly less apprehensive expecting the world to somehow have changed for the better. Given the global and personal scale of the crisis and suffering, was it too much to hope that humanity had somehow managed to find some common ground and make a little long overdue progress on other trivial issues, like racism, discrimination, classism, unconscious bias, sexism…. essentially structural inequalities. 

But lo and behold, we were in for a disappointment…. the world had not changed for the better, inequalities continue to flourish rampantly, vigorously and in more insidious forms, the likes of which, even I after so many years of existence have not experienced before. Perhaps this is due to the fact, that I have ceased to look at the world through rose-coloured spectacles or is it that I am now faced with in addition to all the other inequalities, ageism, without any of the accompanying benefits of getting older.

So, we have resorted to a little distraction by joining other rose enthusiasts, in smelling the roses. Oh, the joys of a rose bush covered in blooms. In varying forms, thorny and non-thorny, the climbing ones, the sleeping ones, the ones perfect for ground cover, there being one to suit every inclination. In my garden, I have had the good fortune to count using my fingers and toes, a variety of roses in baby pinks, glorious oranges, pristine whites, and bright red. Sadly the pink one one hasn’t grown that many inches, since last year, and produced just a few roses. Some pruning may be required of the undergrowth encroaching on the rose, to allow it more space to grow.  The secret to growing healthy roses, is apparently plenty of sunshine, a lack of intense competition from other plants so more space for the rose to thrive and, avoiding windy and exposed sites. All this with regular feeding and mulching.

On the issue of the unresolved issue of structural inequalities, is it too much to expect a little appropriate acknowledgement for our lived-in experiences and knowhow, gained over the course of many moons, and should we also invest in a fence to protect one’s boundaries?