Yesterday was the Flemish Feast Day. For the occasion, the first Zomerstraat was organized here in Goudberg. It was sunny and dry, with the occasional refreshing breeze criss-crossing the blocked off streets. The children were playing, laughing and having the time of their lives, while the adults enjoyed the moment with snacks, drinks and being amongst each other…

For some of the adults, the combination of good weather, alcoholic drinks and happy children brought on the false feeling of safety. People started to gather closer together, ignoring the 1.5m rule, talking loudly, and laughing without constraint. At those moments, it seemed like the virus does not exist or had been beaten. For me, the words stranger danger took on different meaning.

In the past three months of quarantine, most of us have respected the health measures, for fear of the unknown dangers surrounding the virus. We have stayed home, shrunken our social bubbles, and minimized our exposures in order to beat this crisis together! Neighbours are not strangers, but the people in their social bubbles are. It was quite worrying when all these bubbles merged together for hours.

D and I walked about the 2-street neighbourhood, stopped by the neighbours who were out and about to say hello, chatted with some, played a few games, and then had some drinks. Overall, D and I had a good time, we just know when to call it quits. We know perfectly well that we can only control our very own social bubble. And with D’s father in mind, the two of us took a few steps away from the group, and slowly strolled back home.