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Published on March 22, 2022
Comments 39

COVID-19 got me, then a catastrophic flood: valid excuses for not blogging?

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Hi everyone, long time no see. Sorry I’ve been ‘missing in WordPress action’, it’s been a terrible 6 weeks here in Australia.

On a personal level, I finally caught Covid, despite being super cautious for 2 years! It was bound to happen: my darling son Nearly22 brought it unknowingly into the home, despite 3 negative RATs & a negative PCR… *sigh

I hoped I may be fine (we were only together for a few hours, but one of them was in the car), plus returned 2 negative RATs & a negative PCR, then on Day 6 since my exposure, I was hit by a sledgehammer of chills/aches/red eyes/nausea/fatigue/dizziness/brain fog.

It was horrible.

I was one of the last people I know to get it, so luckily I had regular soothing phone calls about what to expect, what to take, & what may happen next.

I literally spent 10 days in my pyjamas, dragging myself from bed to kitchen to couch to bed. Dosing myself every 1-2 hours, as well as eucalyptus steam baths, became almost a full time job.

By Day 12 since testing positive, I could feel a shift in my energy… and then I got a negative RAT again. Woohoo! Never have I felt so glad to know something foreign was out of my body.

Exhaustion lingered though. Brain fog would curl in from the edges of my mind, until all I could do was lie down immediately and rest. Other friends (whether vaxxed or not) had that experience too, which was somehow reassuring.

I spent a week at about 70% of my normal energy, then the flood catastrophe hit, in the early hours of Monday 28 Feb.

It had been raining for days- constant drizzles and downpours, making everything soggy and the creeks brown and swollen.

Then this ‘Rain Bomb’ arrived on the East Coast of Australia, and just sat there, unleashing.

Floods were predicted, but height levels kept increasing… until finally mass destruction brought landslides, roads washed away, houses waist deep or neck deep in water… scenes of devastation everywhere.

Have you ever been in a flood? Look around you now, where you sit reading this blog: imagine dirty smelly water rising up fast over every single thing you own, until you’re standing on a kitchen bench trying to break into your roof cavity so that you can get away from it.

Oh and in the dark too, at 3am, because the power’s gone.

There are so many vivid experiences like that where I live; I’m sure you’ve seen images on the news.

My dearest friends thought they were going to drown- they were rescued by the SES (emergency services) out of their 2nd storey front room window, and had to duck under the electricity lines as they were boated to safety.

That’s how high the water was.

It’s inconceivable.

And now is the massive clean up, by traumatised people, forced to stay in an evacuation centre, while others with safe dry houses up the hill have entire households (& pets) staying in any spare rooms.

It is catastrophic.

[Search for more images & video at Lismore 2022 flood]

I live 30 minutes away, and I am safe. But I have loved Lismore and her creative, quirky, queer, friendly population since I moved there in 1997; it breaks my heart to see the loss and devastation.

But this is the reality of climate change. It’s been predicted by science for years: “more severe weather events, more often.”

I’ve been volunteering at the Evacuation Centre, helping friends clean out houses (such sticky, smelly mud- made my Covid cough worse for sure), and completely forgetting my WordPress world.

Sorry.

I’m exhausted now, three weeks since the flood. And I’ve lost nothing, while so many have lost everything. Whole lives and homes thrown onto the street, becoming piles of rotting garbage.

It’s hard to feel positive in times like these.

Sorry again.

It has felt good to tell a little of my recent story though, and reach out.

In gratitude for community, G xO

39 Comments

  1. curioussteph says

    oh my goodness, G, what a stretch. So sorry for all of it. Sorry you got Covid, and glad that you are recovering fairly well. Also glad that you personally didn’t get flooded out, but I get how close it came, and how such an event can have a huge impact, even if you’re “okay”. I’ve been experiencing a lot of that since the Dec. 30 Marshall Fire which came way too close to home. Its getting better, but I still get exhausted and depressed with too much exposure to burned areas. Best healing wishes to you all! enough extreme weather already (as if my opinion could change it)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • bone&silver says

      Thanks Steph. Yes, it feels like we’re all running a marathon, with a devastated country all around us… it’s depressing indeed. Thank you for the healing wishes, we need them, and I reflect them back to you and your land as well ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. Marts says

    Sorry to hear about all this, but it’s good to know that you are okay and even able to assist your neighbours and friends… I hope you all get over soon…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. CeCe says

    As always a gripping informative read…. Bugger shite times again! Hope you’re ok & that the support is in place to help.
    Can we share this piece pls? Links credits to you of course.
    Take care & get well
    AION xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Donna Cameron says

    Oh, my! You and your community have been through a lot. Glad to hear you’re recovering from Covid, and hope your friends dealing with flood find strength and support. Discouraging times, indeed. Stay safe, G.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. gigglingfattie says

    My darling! Just a horrible experience! Im so sorry you had to go through both of these things! Be well and you are amazing for being such a support to your community in need xoxo

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. Bitchy After 60 says

    You have no need to apologize. The real world was throwing curve balls and you were doing what must be done. My thoughts go out to you, your friends and all the flood victims.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  13. acflory says

    Damn, damn, damn! I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all that. The Offspring and I are still Covid-free and the more I hear from people who’ve had it, the more determined I am that we’ll stay that way as both of us have compromised immune systems although in different ways. Have just finished two weeks post Booster but not game to ‘live’ with the bastard thing. Btw be careful as you /can/ get re-infected with the BA.2 variant.
    Things have to change. All my sympathy to the people of Lismore [and elsewhere!]. I hope the NSW govt or the Federal govt stops being penny pinching and offers ‘buy backs’. Some genuine action against climate change would be ‘nice’ too. -growl-
    Stay safe.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • bone&silver says

      Yes, I thought of you: we’d both tried so hard to stay safe, with our offspring, & yet it got us two anyway… 😔

      Lismore is a disaster- so little government help & presence- climate change is a living nightmare- we so need buy backs & radical change 🙏🏼

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • acflory says

        I’m lucky because the Offspring lives at home and is almost more paranoid than me [we both have compromised immune systems]. I’m just glad that you managed to get through this bloody virus without needing to go to hospital. 😦
        Totally agree re climate change and the government response. I haven’t been this shocked since the Black Summer fires when people had to take refuge in boats or on the beach. To see that young girl in waist high water, carrying her dog, almost broke my heart. Lismore, Mullumbimby, so many communities left to fend for themselves. It beggars belief that any government can be this pathetic…again and again and again. 😦
        Btw have you heard of the ‘Republic of Mallacoota’? Apparently the residents there have decided to take matters into their own hands re the rebuilding of their homes.
        As awful as these floods have been, they’ve highlighted how much better volunteers are at saving their own communities. Politicians who don’t really represent their communities should be turfed out on their arses. Excuse the French. :/

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
  14. arlingwoman says

    Oh, man, Covid followed by that! Flooding is horrible. We get it in the spring every year–and lately where I live, several times a summer in areas where people built over feeder streams to the Potomac. Ay ay ay….I’m glad you’re feeling better, but remember not to overdo it–Covid gets at your neurology and organs and you need more rest than you think.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. Ann Coleman says

    I’m so sorry! I can’t imagine having to cope with such severe flooding just after recovering from a bad case of Covid. I wish I was closer and could help in some way, but please know I’m thinking of you…and all those impacted.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  16. Widdershins says

    The govt here is only starting to get its arse into gear to help out with the devastating summer fires now, and forget the thousands of people who got flooded out in Nov/Dec of last year.
    What’s really concerning is that we’re only at the beginning of such things, and they’re already floundering. Globally.
    So glad to hear you threw that lurgy out on its ear, after an heroic struggle though. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. janieleeds says

    I sat here quietly reading your post and doing as you suggested, imagining the water rising in my family room and a shudder ran through me so I can’t even imagine how all are doing with this traumatic experience. And there you are, my dear friend, after surviving Covid, helping everyone with your big warm heart and beautiful smile…you are a blessing…sending strength and love xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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