A second lockdown here in Melbourne feels like a nightmare. I wake up each day and find it surreal. I can only go outside once per day for an hour of exercise. The state regulations require me to wear a face mask if I go outside my home. There are police and military in the streets and in beautiful natural settings like the Yarra River. They’re positioned there to ensure people are wearing face masks and to ask them why they are out. If a person’s answer is not one of the four reasons we’re allowed to leave home — to provide care, get to a medical appointment, go food shopping, or exercise for one hour — then officials are instructed to issue hefty fines of up to $5,000. On a bad day, you can see videos on the news of the police exerting their new powers and tackling anti-maskers or curfew-breakers to the ground in order to arrest them. You see birds chirping and people in military outfits right next to them. The contrast is bizarre — it’s as though we’re at war.