After long weeks of isolation, we can go for a walk in almost freedom. Finally. I live in the first Treviso suburbs, and here I have been confined for the past two months. Today the city gave me back a strange impression, I didn't expect it until I tried it. More than the sadness of seeing the shops closed, without words I was afraid of people. Few people, in a hurry, all with masks, each one is a possible asymptomatic contagious. I could be the same for the others too, I understand those who keep their distances far beyond the limits. And to think that some time ago I was actively participating in a group that offers hugs to anyone who wants to receive them, in public places, on the inspiration of the international Free Hugs movement.

I walked avoiding strangers, I got off the sidewalk so as not to touch a passerby, I crossed the street for the sole reason of getting better. I did not have the courage to press the pedestrian traffic light button. I managed not to touch anything. I wanted to go downtown, see how empty the squares are, now you can go. I couldn't make it to the area that is the heart of Treviso: the longer I stepped up, the more my desire to return to my protected environment grew. The last real outing I remember was at the end of February, a ride to Venice for the Carnival, just in time, which was then blocked in its final days. Over the course of a few weeks, we found ourselves involved in a situation that nobody knew how to manage, like being inside a film without having rehearsed. Listening at too many news programs during this period has been more harmful than useful. Sometimes, in the evening, I imagined the possibility of waking up from a nightmare the following morning, as if all this were not true.

Little by little we assimilated the instructions, we adapted, clinging to our best resources to try to take it with philosophy and to occupy the long days staying at home, for those who could do it. To be honest, I personally consider myself lucky: I have not endured great sacrifices in my lifestyle. I am a housewife, I was already used to it within the home. I missed walking or cycling along the Sile very much. La Restera, very popular with Treviso, was suddenly declared a forbidden place: both for the occasion of gatherings and for the distance beyond 200 meters.

Shopping has become more difficult, because I used to go there often and willingly buying a few things at a time, every day or almost, in different and distant places as a pleasant opportunity to go out pedaling. And then the market, the fish market, the fruit and vegetable stalls, the unexpected meetings and chats ... everything that seemed a normal routine was no longer, for anyone. On the other hand, I started going to an interesting shop opened a few months ago in my neighborhood where you can buy groceries and loose detergents. There I always found flour even when it was out of large retailers, together with a different and more human relationship with the managers.

Maybe it's too early to say how this experience will change us, I think not all of them to the same extent. I hope that something really changes, but by choice, not because we are forced. I want to be optimistic, I hope it was an opportunity to understand what is really necessary and what is not. As far as I'm concerned, I think that the best fruit of the quarantine is my approach to sourdough. The day I learned of the lack of yeast in supermarkets, because many customers have grabbed the stocks in anticipation of a total block, I thought that the right time had come to try seriously. And so it was, and I succeeded, starting from flour and water. But this is a new story, it has the power of creation, I'm sure more than anyone will understand.

Daniela Grassato, Treviso 04/29/2020 - # qzone.it
Photo by Daniela Grassato - Treviso, San Leonardo area with the Littorio's Fountain on the right