Stoke Newington, London, April 11, 2020
Some three months ago we moved into the upper-most apartment in a Victorian house, with a narrow curbside yard. I soon realized, to my dismay, that none of the streets' residents use their front yard for anything other than pruning their roses.
I wanted to investigate this matter to its core, and I discovered the answer to this mystery in a site dedicated to British moms. Apparently, so they ruled, sunbathing in your front yard is a thing only the "masses" do.
But this has now become the new norm: This year's Easter weekend, in which all of the British citizens found themselves in lockdown and suffering under a heatwave, the front yards became a vibrant scene.
I saw three women in bikini playing cards on a small bench. Across the street from their yard, a gray-haired couple drank tea under the yellow beach umbrella. Further down the street, two shirtless strong men sunbathed while Nina Simone sang "My Baby Just Cares for Me" in her contralto voice from one of the windows.
A sweaty me goes out in a bathing suit and for the first time shows my exposed calves on the cold stone wall and hover like Blanche DuBois in A streetcar named desire.
"One feels very estranged here in this London of yours," everyone tells me whenever I go back to Israel for a visit.
These are special times, as noted before. Over the past month, every Thursday at 8 p.m., everyone puts their various spats on hold and stand next to their windows and clap in tribute to the health care workers who save our lives.
Last Thursday, I saw across the street my favorite neighbor clapping next to her window. She takes her dog, a three-legged small Chihuahua, for a shaky walk every day. Each morning they walk next to each other in a very slow pace that makes you have pity for them, with unlimited patience.
Each morning, in the past and today, I look at them without knowing what her name is, or what the dog's name is. But they always fill my heart with softness and hope.
Yonatan Sagiv was born in Herzliya. He completed his PhD in New York and currently lives and teaches in London. He has written three detective novels.
