Villages Might Just Have An Advantage In The Social Distance Stakes.

A village where everyone knows your name...

It took a few days or perhaps weeks before everyone came on board and changed their thoughts on corona from it being just like the flu to the virulent killer it is. Only yesterday I noticed a highly disguised person walking to the local shop. Scarves, hat and face mask!

Slowly but surely the reports of people one knows being struck down with this virus are circulating and coupled with the daily news stream from all over the world, the social strictures are more than being met.

For the last two weeks I have been doing food deliveries around our villages for those older folk who are most at risk and thus I can be seen driving along the neighbourhood roads. The local shop opens for the afternoon at three o'clock and that is when I go there to fetch the various deliveries.

The shop also happens to be across the road from my parent's house and so I can keep a watch out for them and drop off anything they might need. I don't want them to go out to public places at all and even the odd afternoon drive through the vineyards tends to elicit a frown from me. My my, how the times have changed...it used to be me trying to sneak out unseen but now my it's my folks' turn and they time their drive around the vineyards so that I don't notice their car missing in the driveway. Murphy's law I tend to run into them when they least expect it...in the vineyards.

Yesterday afternoon whilst driving past my neighbour's gate, I noticed her standing in it and stopped to have a two meter distance chat through the car window. I was amazed when she mentioned seeing my car constantly scooting about, and kind of hinting that I wasn't keeping to the stay-at-home credo. Perhaps I should get a big letter stamped by our mayor!

Burgenland is the smallest and most rural county in Austria and also has the least number of corona cases. By far, which makes me wonder whether it might have something to do with everyone being aware of everyone else's conduct and business...those transgressing the social distance credo are quickly met with a frown and an inkling of becoming fodder for neighbourly phone calls.

Of course it also helps that most of us in the country have big gardens and those can be used for daily exercise. Just this morning I met an elderly gal walking up and down inside her garden, never crossing the swell onto the street. We had a quick chat ( at a distance of course ) and I could see she was heading for a serious case of cabin fever, but both her sons live in the village and thus can keep an eye on her and make sure she has enough food to see her through.

Biggi