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CORONAVIRUS AND DAILY LIFE
The Spring That Wasn’t: Coronavirus and Experiencing Nature in Isolation
A fleeting glimpse of a passing spring left an indelible mark in memory and human experience: snippets of a fragmented diary about life in self-isolation in Virginia.
Fleeting Glimpse of a Passing Spring
As flowers enveloped trees amid the earlier-than-expected arrival of spring, there is something missing in the air. The inspiring beauty of the landscape does not inspire any joy or exaltation. There is a brutal irony between the all-conquering allure of spring and the frightened human being who locked himself/herself to the walls of his/her residence.
Normally, these are the times to celebrate. But these days, the fear of an unseen enemy — a deadly virus — overwhelms the joy of the spring. The contrast has never been sharper. The promise of the sunlight and the fear of the dark clouds of virus appear to be in a perpetual clash in our mental map. We are prisoners in our own house. A fleeting glimpse of a passing spring fails to capture its soul and essence. For this reason, it would be safe to state that this year “the spring that never was…”
