Page 134 - Herioter 2020

way to spend my time, but that is the The Real Virus: Us
thing, it spends my time. One more hour
getting angry at birds, one less hour It has been five years. We now
looking out the window doing nothing. understand how it feels to be trapped in
I will probably even continue, once this is isolation and have our days dictated to
over. Bird watching, that is, not looking us, like creatures imprisoned in a cage.
out the window doing nothing. It is an Zoos are finally being turned into wildlife
improvement, in a way: I never noticed rehabilitation centres and animals are
the outside world before, it was just able to roam the wild once again. Millions
scenery. Now I can’t seem to take my of people have been employed to help
eyes off it. Every little thing I do seems restore our planet, to help stop poachers
Lockdown: the futile, irrelevant to the things happening from harming all of the animals we have
outside: the whole ecosystem working recently released, to plant trees and help
good, the bad just fine without humans. I imagine other fight illegal deforestation. We pick up
people have noticed this, too. The world our litter and respect our environment,
and the ugly seems to be continuing to spin just as it our cities now pristine, our beaches now
did before humans even arrived. After immaculate and our oceans free once
English pupils in S4-3M and those in all is back to normal, and nature has again.
S5 who were preparing to do Advanced had a well-earned break from all our
Higher English were asked to write about destructive habits, hopefully people will Single use plastic is banned all over the
their experiences of lockdown. Those realise how special it is. world, mostly substituted by bagasse,
in S4-3M were asked to reflect on an the by-product of sugarcane processing,
aspect of their lives at this time, while Alice Bennett (S4) or mycelium and agricultural waste.
the future Advanced Higher cohort were
encouraged to write about a moment of So, How Has helicopter accident, and now COVID-19,
beauty or realisation that had emerged where millions are infected and hundreds
from the same period. There are also This Month of thousands dying. When will it end? Are
further lockdown-inspired pieces by these signs from nature? Possibly.
Cameron Smith (S3) and, in French, by Been?
Joshua Lintott (S1). The images adorning Since the start of lockdown, throughout
these pages were created by S1 artists as Scary, frustrating, intriguing, an the world, nature finally has a chance
postcards to be sent to former pupils. to recover from the constant damage
emotional rollercoaster for everyone
Mr Jonny Muir we cause. Pollution rates have dropped,
I’m sure. Some of us are luckier than dolphins have been spotted in the canals
others yet all of us are suffering in some in Venice, Chinese workers have said
manner. Maybe you’ve lost your job, they have never seen the sky so clear.
or worse a member of your family, but Animals throughout Africa are finally
everyone has taken some sort of hit. getting to roam free, with less chance of
I mean, for the past month I’ve been them being hunted; tigers and lions have
sleeping on a blow up bed! even been spotted lying on the roads,
The terms ‘lockdown’ and ‘quarantine’ warmed by the sun. This is all evidence
give me shivers and feelings of déjà vu that nature and the circle of life will
from the countless movies I’ve watched, continue with or without us. The sun will
Re-seeing the where a deadly virus has spread rise in the East and set in the West, time
throughout humanity, nearly wiping us will not stop just because humans face a
World out, little by little, and now it’s a reality. new challenge.
A reality that is hard to believe, it is as if What happens after the pandemic? Well,
I have been in the same chair for a one big, dark illusion has been cast upon no-one can know for sure, but what we
month now, since stupid o’clock this us all. But what are we to do but follow know for certain is, not everyone will
morning, just to get the computer before the instructions given to us and try to make it through this long and twisted
anyone else. Still, it is a good place for carry on in this strange and curious time? tunnel. However, it is important to
bird watching, my favourite lockdown remember that a tunnel always has an
activity. It is great – the birds are like The big year of 2020. A new decade. A
friends, except that they cannot talk and fresh start for most of us. But what a entrance and an exit, and at this exit
only stick around for the food. They do painful and destructive start it has been. there will be sunshine awaiting us. This
not know how lucky they are, hopping From the wild bush fires in Australia to should give us hope for a better future, a
around from roof to roof, when I have the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, future without COVID-19.
not left from under mine in a month. his daughter and the seven others in a Fergus Stewart (S5)
Getting angry at birds is not the best

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