Italy's New "Lockdown Soft"

The shepherd working His green pastures

Just as I was starting to enjoy the rules for the lockdown in Italy they changed it to the lockdown soft. Here's how Day One went.

My first scent of the day came as I sat on the front stoop lacing my running shoes. One of the neighboring fields was being treated by the manure spreader. I never plugged my nose when I passed a farm in the US. I actually liked the smell of manure. My brothers used to gag in the backseat of the Plymouth '66, but if it was my turn for the window seat it meant that I controlled the window and it stayed down.

Had I grown up in Italy, the window would have gone up when I passed a farm. Guidebooks leave out the part that Italian manure stinks. The mucche (cows) eat beautiful fields of yellow, white and purple wildflowers, but in the end, everything doesn't come out roses. My neighbor told me there's a law that manure can only be spread in the middle of the night when most people are sleeping. Apparently this farmer thought lockdown soft meant people were sleeping IN.

I left the stoop and passed under my rainbow.  It's fading a little, but my hope for peace isn't. I picked a daisy and counted its petals, even though it was no longer necessary. On lockdown when I could only be 200 meters from home, I dropped a petal with every lap to count and pass the time.  On lockdown soft, the 200-meter limit has been lifted and replaced with some typical Italian phraseology. Here's a translation of the governor's speech:

"Motor activity is individual, and must be performed in proximity of your home. I have removed the 200 meters, this is an act of great trust. Proximity doesn't mean 4 kilometers. The law says: in proximity."

I wonder if 3.9 kilometers is in proximity.

Even though I could have let freedom ring a little, I hopped my neighbor's fence to return to the security of my Coronavirus Trail. The shepherd had been there the past few days and for some reason I can't get enough of the fact that I run in a field with a shepherd and his sheep. Unfortunatley, instead of finding them, I found the manure-spreading tractor loading up the fields on both sides of my canal.
   
This forced me to follow the next lockdown soft rule...always wear a mask.  I'd had one tucked in my Coronavirus Kit for nearly two months so I pulled it out.  Hopefully it will work better for the virus than it did for the manure. My only choice was to run farther than 200 meters.

That's it for how lockdown soft has affected me on Day One. The only real changes in most people's lives are that gloves and masks are obligatory and we don't have to stay within 200 meters of home, but 4 kilometers is out of the question. Another interesting one is if you're out and stopped by the police they'll check your temperature.  If it's above 37.5 degrees celcius (99.5 degrees fahrenheit), it's a reato (crime, violation, felony, misdemeanor). It seems my dictionary is as vague as our governor.

As for how far I'll dare stray from home tomorrow, maybe I'll ask the shepherd. He might know what proximity means. He puts an orange fence around his flock and goes home with Lassie for lunch every day (which seems an act of great trust). He has a beard, a staff and sheep.  What would HE do?