Home
Easter Monday, 11 am
We exit the plane in an orderly and socially distanced fashion, only after being reminded to do so. In a similar vein to exiting our Santaiago to Melbourne flight we have two attempts, with the first being the usual impatient surge to get off the plane. After being ushered along the aerobridge we front up to a table with two policemen, who process us simultaneously. They barely glance at our precious signed exemption forms and fill out new directives, still thankfully, for self isolation at home. As one ruffles though the piles of forms he mutters that they change every day, while the other wishes us well in isolation. Our temperature is checked, for the first time since our arrival in Melbourne two weeks ago, and we are on our way.
Our wonderful homecoming begins as we expect, with Jeremy and Emma driving our car, in addition to their own, out to the airport, and placing the keys on the bonnet so we can drive ourselves home. We keep a suitably awkward distance from each other. Once home, neighbours welcome us, waving from across the road as we hop out of the car, and the kids disappear around the back as we unload our bags.
The rest is a surprise. Keayn films Obe’s antics from the front verandah as we arrive home. He keeps running up and down the path without properly greeting us, seemingly overwhelmed and confused at greeting us in the front yard, when his usual greeting rituals take place in the back yard or at the front door. Inside we are greeted by two celebratory brunches, one set out for us inside the house and the other for the three of them outside on the deck. Hot cross buns, freshly made by Emma this morning, and the table set with all our familiar things. We manage an almost simultaneous popping of corks, pour from our respective bottles and settle down either side of the screen door to catch-up in real time and face to face. When I get up to make myself a cup of tea to accompany the buns I discover a hidden Lindt chocolate ball in the tea caddy, the first of many to be uncovered as we settle back in. This is a new version of our usual Easter egg hunt, which usually takes place in teams, and gets trickier by the year. By the end of the day we have a pile of eight Lindt balls, and find two under the pillows as we collapse into bed. The number swells in the morning, one in the folded up tablecloth, another two as Jode prepares coffee, and another under a favourite cup. Our kids patently know our routines, and each newfound chocolate welcomes us home anew.
Keayn has delivered to us a happy, calm and spectacularly shedding Obe. Presumably his body rhythms are disturbed by the unprecedented hot April weather, with the new all time high of 39.5 degrees recorded three days ago. You only have to look at him for puffs of fur to radiate out around him, swirling in the air and settling over everything. An extensive groom and wash later he looks at us as if to say, that was not what I had in mind as my preferred bonding ritual, and what about a walk? Not to be, at least not with us, for another two weeks. Later on, he starts searching for Keayn. In contrast to the cat memes doing the rounds that suggest owners should leave the house, Obe has clearly relished the new work from home regime, and will continue to do so. He loves nothing more than company.
There is a flurry of emails in response to our ‘last leg’ email, and more flurries of texts when people start spotting us on TV. We had been accosted by Channel 9 on our way to the luggage carousel, and thought we were relatively safe. Who, I thought, do we know that would watch channel 9? By 4 pm we had been spotted on Channel 9 by mum’s friend at her retirement village, and just after 7pm texts confirmed we were spotted on the ABC news. Apparently they share their footage! We have yet to view it, but by all accounts it is mercifully brief and we look happy. We were happy!!
Tuesday
We sit on the deck earlier than usual, still on Melbourne time, and drink in the early morning light, sharing observations about the garden. It is the beginning of a beautiful sunny Perth day. There is a fat Willywag tail swooping from the Hills hoist, catching his early morning meal. They can be quite territorial and I hope that our garden has become his territory while we were away. We enjoyed yesterday’s domestics. There is something reassuring about the routine acts of cleaning, washing and cooking that ground us in home. And while not rushing into the garden, I am anticipating the pleasures of deadheading roses, pruning and pottering.
As I unpack while Jode works from the spare room, I realise we have some idiosyncratic mementos from our trip. The precious USB stick from Dorette used to download communally shared photos from the onboard computer, the plastic spoon Rebekah gave us in Santiago airport to stir our soup, the green LATAM blankets we uncharacteristically stole from our Santiago flight (perhaps anticipating unknown deprivation ahead) that became the ideal mat for our meditation and exercise activities on the hotel floor, the small plunger from Care Package #1 courtesy of Nicky and Stuart, and the faded Ayers Rock tea towel that was in Care Package #2 courtesy of Doug and Helen. They sit alongside the precious Dopper bottles from Oceanwide and remind us of our ‘trip of a lifetime’.
In addition to our ‘operation bring Jen and Jode home’ project team of three, we feel like we’ve had an extended cheer squad willing us home. Your concern for our wellbeing, your willingness to engage with us and our journey home, and your supportive phone calls, emails, and messages have been a blessing, and a lot of fun. Special mention goes to our Melbourne friends George and Rob, son Benjamin and dog Pippa, who came and waved and chatted to us from the corner opposite our hotel window and then completed their visit with a mad drive by, standing and waving scarves through their car’s open sunroof. They even did a block to do a second drive by, so we could capture it on video! As George would say, what a hoot!
Saturday
Saturday morning, Day 5. We’ve had a police check on Day 3, perhaps with more to come. We’ve just had our breakfast of pancakes, with yoghurt, caramelised banana and coffee on the back deck, with not a boiled egg in sight. It’s been a busy week. Jode’s work has been crazy frenetic and stressful as they scramble to meet government COVID requirements. I dived into preparing the blog website and various other domestic and work related tasks. We have, sadly, quickly lost the centreing routines of the hotel, and not yet replaced them with new ones or been able to resort to old routines. Jode is missing her cycling commute and we are both badly missing our afternoon walks, which previously signalled the end of the work day, and were a chance to wind down and connect. Obe, on the other hand welcomes his walks with neighbours and friends with relish and returns bouncy and happy. We envy him.
There are some aspects of our current self isolation that are part of the new normal for everyone, for example with Jode working from home. I am certainly feeling the cumulative effects of our enforced quarantine followed by these two weeks of imposed self isolation, and am eagerly anticipating a more normal, new normal, where I can leave the house. Our neighbourhood is also our home, and the homecoming won’t be complete until that first walk by the river in the late afternoon, the two of us, with Obe.