One of the nicer things about the past six weeks and this semi-isolation is the sound of birdsong.
Early each morning from the chimneys and trees there is a cacophony of sound created by competing soloists comprised of blackbirds, robins, thrushes and wood pigeons. They are not harmonious but no less beautiful for that. The migrant housemartins have returned and are dive bombing backwards and forwards between the eaves.
Oblivious to our pandemic, nature asserts itself. A reminder too, that this planet is shared space.
Even at a remove from the main road, this dawn chorus is usually drowned out by the whizzing of lorries going to or from Warrenpoint Port. Ports are also a reminder of our connectivity to other parts of the world. If this pandemic has proven anything it’s that we are not alone.
Countries across the globe face the same crisis as us. Tears of mourning shed in Berlin are no different to those in Belfast. The healthcare workers and emergency services personnel in Manchester stand in solidarity with their Milan counterparts. Hearts are being lifted by extraordinary acts of generosity whether in Bedfordshire or Beauvais. This is a time for solitude - not solitary confinement.
Despite of all this, there is clear evidence that patience with the rules of the semi-lockdown are fraying.
This is unsurprising given the alarmist and scaremongering remarks articulated by some voices against the implementation of necessary enforcements established by our elected representatives to keep us safe and prevent our health service from collapsing.
Encouraged by the incautious words of some, others are seemingly prepared to push at the edges of the lockdown. To challenge the authority of the police. To ignore social distancing in shops and to unravel the protections put in place to reduce risk.
At the moment these measures have slowed down the spread of Covid-19. The death toll may have peaked but only just. This is not a sprint to the end but a first leg of a marathon.
If the relaxation of restrictions are not phased, then what has been managed reasonably well could collapse into the completely unmanageable.
The great unknown remains the ignorance about Covid-19 and its possible mutations. Scientists may be collaborating but they too are still on a learning curve. Scientists like time. Time we have not got.
Politicians are used to populist decisions. But this is no time for populism. Look at the craziness of Trump and Bolsonaro and their uninformed views about science.
This is the time for leaders to find their backbone.
Bizarrely, the opening of churches has re-emerged as an issue. More worryingly, this is put forward without any rational argument. Have church officials got the financial/physical resources to implement and enforce social distancing? I think not.
Relaxation on visiting graveyards was appropriate but in reality they were clumsily caught up in the definition of a public space.
Of course, there has to be a plan to recovery which needs to be communicated to the public. Businesses need clear direction (and continued financial support) to plan ahead.
Executive ministers should avoid media if they intend making their personal viewpoints public. Thinking out loud is rarely a productive activity in political circles.
Right now the watchword has to be caution because the world is full of tinpot agitators masquerading under banners about infringements of freedom and human rights who are only too willing to wreak havoc, even if it costs lives.
At the extreme end look at those armed demonstrators in Michigan egged on by an erratic president. Here in Ireland, north and south we have our own versions of conspiracy theorists and egocentric jackdaws dressed in peacock feathers. Ignore them.
Soon it will be the VE Day commemoration. VE Day, that momentary celebration after five years of war, social restrictions and rationing. Today’s snowflake generation who think this semi-lockdown is hard should talk to their grandparents. They really understood hardship.
