A lot of firsts are coming up next week! Just as well as the cancellations of this week have been slightly disappointing. We were to have had lunch with the kids in Exeter, but our hostess had a headache and a sore throat so we stayed in Bristol. Shame. We will meet again in the next few weeks. Plans for Friday also didn’t pan out as my friend who was to visit didn’t feel well either. Neither of these seem to be Covid thankfully, but irritating to them none the less.
Next week the firsts will be SO welcome! We are heading out on Monday. It’s our wedding anniversary! With a bit of luck the weather will be reasonable. We are going to a Michelin starred pub in a Cotswold village that we’ve been to before. It’s a small place with a big garden and weather willing, we will manage to eat food cooked by someone else. No washing up to do either! Yea! There are lovely walks from the pub, so we intend to fit that in as well.
The next first is a few days away. Yep! We are going to stay, on our own, at our friends’ place in Hay on Wye. They generously invite us to stay there every year and we have been there with friends and family as well as with them and on our own. We had planned our annual Easter trip to see them, but of course that never happened. This will be the first place we have stayed at other than home since we returned from New Zealand in March. That’s a very long time for we former travellers. I will be wearing my mask as I visit book shops…it’s Hay! What else is a woman to do?
The next first for over one hundred and sixty days for me, is that I will be taking a holiday from writing each day next week. This will be the last musing from me until the first of September. It seems a good time to start again, and I will no doubt be refreshed and raring to go. I certainly hope so! In the meantime, remember that the scientists are busily working away on our behalf.
Until then, enjoy the last days of August and lets all hope for an Indian Summer in September.
Take care, wear those masks, socially distance, use your sanitizer, and whatever you get up to, have fun!
Our young neighbour whose bedroom faces our garden apparently came running down into his kitchen earlier this week to tell his mother excitedly, “Mum, Terry is fishing in the garden!” It’s true there was a line being cast into the garden, with my fisherman attached to it, but sadly, there will be no fish at the end of his line.
People who are serious fishermen (or women) practice their casting the way a pianist plays scales, or a basketball player shoots hoops, or a painter doodles, or a writer – well – writes! There isn’t always a fish at the end of the line, or a melody or a score, a finished painting or even a finished story. It’s part of the journey along the way. Practise is what we all do a lot of the time in pursuit of whatever it is that we are trying to achieve. Doctors “practice” medicine. It’s called a law “practice”. It’s often about the journey. And if you want to get anywhere with anything at all, practice is required! Fish or football, words or paint, practice as they say – whoever they are – makes perfect. If not quite perfect, getting on that way!
This week, more than most for ages, has been wonderfully social. Daily plans that include spending a bit of time with other people in various ways sure do feel great! From a walk and a coffee out with a girlfriend, to tea in the garden with a guy friend, Zoom Pilates and then….a visit to the kids with lunch being provided. Wow! A more usual sort of August week. To top it all off we are having a socially distanced dining room with the window open meal with friends on Saturday!
Normal it is not, although new normal it is becoming, I think there needs to be a better term. It’s our life after all and we are living it. Whatever is “normal” anyway?
That of course depends on who you ask! It can mean:
A line or vector that is perpendicular to another line, surface, or plane.
A person who is normal, who fits into mainstream society, as opposed to those who live alternative lifestyles
Describing a straight chain isomer of an aliphatic hydrocarbon, or an aliphatic compound in which a substituent is in the 1- position of such a hydrocarbon
Denoting certain hypothetical compounds, as acids from which the real acids are obtained by dehydration; thus, normal sulphuric acid and normal nitric acid are respectively S(OH)6, and N(OH)5
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States
So you can describe your life as normal for you. You choose! What is your new normal? Mine, thankfully, has begun to mean that there are other people in it from time to time a bit more often. Hope your normal is agreeable to you. There may be a few different parameters for us all these days, but there are still lots of choices for us to make. Choose well. And remember, practice makes perfect at whatever you choose! Even just living!
Scapegoat. Surely there will be a few more around this week. First off there’s PHE. Public Health England. They have indeed become the go to for the Health Minister to get rid of as a demonstration of how he gets things done! There is a problem with the response to Covid so let’s play the blame game.
You may recall my deep love and appreciation for the Track and Trace minister Dido Harding? She of the head of the less than perfect organisation dealing with the not quite sorted it out yet track and trace? Dido, you may recall, is married to John Penrose MP for Weston Super Mare, who sits on the advisory board of think tank 1828 which calls for “the NHS to be replaced by an insurance system and for Public Health England to be scrapped.”[ Well guess who is going to be the new interim head of the new agency called the National Institute for Health Protection. I must admit I don’t feel very protected with that woman in charge. One aim achieved Penrose and pals. So insurance system for the NHS? I didn’t used to think so given the NHS response to Covid. Now, I’m not so sure….
I don’t know about all of the ins and outs of Public Health England’s response to Covid, but I do know that the agency answers directly to the Health Minister. So who got what wrong? This pandemic is far from over. So is this government. It continues to be a wild ride.
Students up and down the country who have received their A level results are now able to get the original grades their teachers set for them. The algorithm some bright spark came up with to decide their grades was so dreadful that thirty-six per cent of teachers predicted grades were downgraded. The algorithm used information about the schools not the pupils. Several days after the results were announced, it has finally been agreed that the maths were wrong for many students- just a tad late – and it’s been scrapped. However, offered places at university fill up fast, and a large number of students now can’t get on the course they desired and let’s face it deserved. In an attempt to right the wrong, the government has removed the cap on student numbers. Universities though rightly say they can’t just take more people on courses that are full without more money to pay more teachers and provide more space to do the teaching. I wonder if Gavin Williamson will become a scapegoat? He says he is very sorry that this happened. And no, he has no plans to resign. Who will they find to blame?
Where do these goats come from, I wondered? The etymology not the people or institutions themselves.
Unusually it would seem we have William Tyndale to thank for that! Remember him? He the Protestant Reformation leader and bible translator who was eventually strangled then burned at the stake? When he translated the bible from the Hebrew apparently he got something slightly wrong. In Hebrew, the ritual of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kipper, one of two goats was chosen by lot to be sent alive into the wilderness, the sins of the people having been symbolically laid upon it and the other was to be slain. The Demon goat sent away was called Azāzel. And that was mistranslated from Demon goat into scapegoat…or the goat that escapes. It isn’t found in other translations. But the word, and its meaning, has stuck,
On the other side of the Atlantic, the democratic virtual convention has begun. Bernie Saunders points out that Nero fiddled while Rome burned…Trump golfs. Michele Obama says Trump is in over his head. Post boxes in America are locked shut or taken away. And the Republicans insists the only way he will lose is if the election is rigged. It seems to me the entire population of America are becoming the Republicans scapegoats!!
People have been having trouble pronouncing Kamala Harris’s name. Not, it seems the Donald. For once he’s got something right. He seems to have fancied her in the past, and in previous times donated to her campaign. Now that she’s become a nasty woman he probably won’t fund her anymore. I leave you with a song that will ensure you never forget how to pronounce her name again. From my favourite parody artist Randy Rainbow.
Enjoy!
STOP PRESS! There is another Dr. Feest in the family. Alexander received his PhD today from the University of Kent. To say we are thrilled is putting it mildly. Yea!!!!!
I have a confession to make. We never did Pilates yesterday. Either together or separately for that matter! Instead, we went for a walk. Yearning to see the sea, we headed to Clevedon to stroll along the prom and look out into the vista. Unfortunately we were not the only people with that desire and the place was packed. We drove on a bit and eventually came to a place with a sign that told us we were heading for the coastal path. Perfect!
The path was a bit slippy, and a trifle muddy, and as the prom was our original destination I was wearing my sparkly blue reeboks rather than rugged walking boots, and certainly didn’t bother with my walking poles!
The walk was undulating rather than steep and it was magnificent. We walked for two and a half miles and would have gone a lot further but for the monsoon that hit us as we walked. The path turned to a small stream and we were soaked all the way through to our underwear despite our waterproofs. Gortex didn’t do it for the first time ever. This was torrential. We only passed one couple before the storm and one young man during it. He warned us it was muddy and waterlogged ahead and as he was going the way we had just come we told him that was what he would find as well.
The colour of the sea and the sky was fantastic. Muted watercolours literally. Greys and blues and shades of deep dark maroon and bolder intense browns. The sound of the roaring sea was drowned out by the rain falling on top of us and the occasional roll of thunder. As we splashed through the muddy water filled track we were like little kids. It wasn’t cold and while we were soaked to the bone by now we weren’t shivering and instead delighted in the experience. There are few times ever that I have been so wet and not frozen.
The storm passed and the final few minutes was clear. Or semi clear. The sea to one side of us and green lush fern and bush to the other. We were all by ourselves and not a soul in sight. What’s not to love? It reminded us of New Zealand, our second home.
You never know what life has in store for you! We have lived in Bristol for twenty-nine years before we discovered this magnificent coastal path! We are already planning our return and thinking of taking two cars so we can do the entire path next time. There were a few hardy locals at the beginning of the path, two or three fishermen and a family with kids cavorting in the sea at Ladye Bay.
The charms of the Gordano! After all this time here I also decided to find out what the Gordano meant. There are so many places around here called that. In fact it means muddy valley. As we passed an insurance company called Gordano I was tempted to drop them a note to tell them they were actually called muddy valley insurance. I bet they didn’t know that either but probably wouldn’t have appreciated my information.
Like the OAPs that we are, we sat in the car with our flask of coffee and dunked our digestive biscuits in our welcome warm liquid. Some treats are very special!
We got home and peeled off our clothes as the journey home in the car did get us a bit chilled. A warm bath beckoned.
Terry cooked a duck that had been in the freezer for weeks and we had a fabulous dining room meal.
Days have been wet. And grey and even greyer. Instead of going out for a long walk we decided to do Pilates together for an hour and see how that goes. We do a one on one class each week, well Terry does it for some reason every other week…but I do it weekly. Doing this together makes a little change and a nice break from whatever normal now is.
We have to carry our sunshine with us on days like this. It’s promising to be a full week ahead of grey damp weather. In preparation for the winter, there are a few tricks up our sleeve yet! Projects are the answer. For me, I have a book project to work on. Not that that will be all sunshine and rainbows either, but at least it keeps me occupied and in flow.
Apparently, to be mentally healthy, what we need to do is find something that keeps us in flow. That can be anything from baking a cake or knitting or gardening and playing an instrument. I think flow used to be called concentration. Something that takes our mind off the grey and the virus and the American shenanigans and keeps us at whatever it is.
One of the things I miss about swimming is it gave me exactly the opposite of flow. I don’t have to concentrate on swimming. I’ve been a swimmer since I was tiny and it comes naturally to me so I don’t have to think about it. It’s the time when I can let my brain think through whatever it wants while crawling from one side of a pool to the other. No I don’t count laps. I time swim. And my brain gets to have freedom to let go. The bike doesn’t offer that. You have to be alert and aware the entire time on the bike. The freedom of release isn’t possible. I do miss my swimming! Maybe I can find something else that does that. Or a pool that is properly adhering to the measures required in these Covid times.
What do you get up to that keeps you in the flow or lets you just drift? I could do with some other ideas!
I asked Mr. Google about these sorts of things and found a wonderful statement about the meaning of life itself. I think I’ve found the answer! According to Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London the answer is easy. “The meaning of life is not being dead.”
Because we live, life matters. I thought that was a hoot! When you start thinking about these big heavy topics in these big heavy times, there has to be a little light relief. That did it for me!
Keep on living, whatever else you do…it’s the only thing that really matters. Enjoy!
The theatre is something that has been dear to my heart for the longest time. Working in the theatre was the first job I loved, and you know what they say about first loves! The psychiatrists tell us that your first love will affect all of your relationships after that because of what you learn. First loves let you know that you can be wanted and desired and they also teach you about how you want to be treated by another person. When the relationship ends you’ll also learn what heartbreak feels like. For me, finding my “first (job) love” at such a young age (14) gave me all of that and more. The theatre and the people in it enabled me to see that I was an able young woman with skills that were valuable. Those lessons learned did indeed stay with me. The theatre is a great place to grow and to develop. I didn’t really feel the heartbreak when the relationship ended as it never really has. It changed of course, and I stopped working in the theatre decades ago. Now, I do feel the loss as we can’t go out to the theatre.
Nevertheless, theatricals are creative and need to be just now in order to survive this virus intact. Demonstrations around the country earlier this week were filled with red.
The red lights were on around the country and marches and demonstrations were held to say that theatricals and live entertainment venues were in the danger zone. Not only are livelihoods being lost, but so are skills that will be hard to be easily replaced.
It’s time to think differently and creatively my theatrical friends! We watched a performance that was streamed Live on You Tube from the Irish Rep theatre in New York City and it was a delight. It was free to book and a donation was then suggested. We gave them the amount they suggested. This was a performance made for now, with the technology available. It wasn’t exactly a television performance, nor was it a theatrical event, but it was somewhere in the middle. We need more of this!
We baulked at paying the Old Vic in London sixty pounds to pay for a show that was beamed in to our living room, and there has been nothing else since from them.
Theatrical folk, please stop stamping your feet at this virus and get those creative juices flowing. We need you! We will support your efforts. Get to work. Not everyone’s job will be saved, as Rishi our Chancellor keeps telling us, but there must be a way for British theatricals to come up with something that scratches our theatrical itch.
Look in the archives! Perhaps there is something you can learn from old original television entertainment? Create please. We need you! Small shows, small casts, live together if you need to, please don’t give up! Your theatre audience needs you!
It may be a long time before we can head back into big theatre halls. My first job of working in the theatre was inside a repurposed circus tent. More or less outside….hmmm. Maybe that’s worth a try?
Scotland has told 75,000 kids that the grades they were given are now being changed. What a mess! How can they have got it so wrong? Ah but Nicola Sturgeon says it’s all right because she has apologised. Well that’s fine then!
In England the A level results have been announced. Moderation of grades has meant that 36% of results have been lowered by one grade, 3% by two grades, while 2% have increased. It’s stressful for all the kids who are already going through a stressful time. Interestingly, the second most popular A level after Math is Psychology. We certainly all are going to be in need of more psychologists if this carries on much longer so that may be no bad thing.
The dog days of summer are definitely here in the UK. But what exactly are the dog days? In our neighbourhood it sometimes seems like the time when pooches are making more feeble barking noises. However, the original meaning of dog days of summer doesn’t have a lot to do with our four-footed friends. Or if it does, it is rather an indirect reference.
When the Sun and Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, are in the same region of the sky it is the hottest part of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, although Sirius can be seen from everywhere in the world. Sirius is part of the constellation called Canis Major, the Greater Dog. The Romans called the time when the sun and Sirius lined up, the Dog Days. It came at the hottest time of the year and it certainly has been that in Bristol this year!
The past two days have seen temperatures reaching 32 degrees. Not a good day for a bike ride. Nevertheless yesterday I did my ride outside and had at least three strangers in cars tell me I was doing an amazing thing riding in this heat. I do love the exchanges that we have with total strangers. They help us perk up. At least they do me!
I also love listening to the snippets of conversation that I hear outside my window. With the windows all fully open, it is tough not to earwig from time to time! An exchange I really enjoyed recently was with a mum and her young son. She said she had spoken to his teacher and that she had talked about teaching Victoria Beckham. The young boy said, Who’s Victoria Beckham? The mother replied she’s the wife of David Beckham…I suspect you’ve got there already. Who’s David Beckham came the reply. I didn’t hear anymore as the mother and son carried on down the road.. Ah the fleeting nature of fame, and earwigging!
This household has had another sound that I have got used to over the past 29 years. Our doorbell. The thing stopped working. We reckon it’s been there for probably forty years so I can understand its giving up the ghost. Fortunately, our lovely electrician thinks he can repair it. My dear husband bought us a new doorbell in the interim which doesn’t do it for me. It’s a fake sound. Yes it may well be the sort of thing you can add different bells to located in various places around the house and garden, but I don’t want to hear another sound that is produced by some computer and doesn’t sound real. Let’s hope John our electrician can fix it for us. An old fashioned wire will be required. And the sound will be a treat once more!
Interesting, some of the delivery guys clearly don’t know what a door knocker is as they didn’t use that when we tapped over the bell. Modern technology or nothing?!
If you haven’t read yesterdays missive scroll down and read that one first! Terry has offered us a lot of information that many of you have commented on and told us how helpful it was. He spent a great deal of time on it and I promise you will definitely learn something that will be helpful to you in these Covid Crazy times!
As I write it is a glorious day and the sun shines! We are pleased that we are in our gorgeous home and not trying to escape the world on an over packed beach somewhere in the UK…or Spain!
We are very, very, sorry to hear that our New Zealand friends in Auckland have been asked to lockdown again! Apparently this is going to be initially for three days. This is because four people in ONE family have the disease. Watch here for more information.
As there will be a bit of indoor time for our kiwi friends, and a need to really stay positive, this missive will be filled with either lovely, funny or unusual bits and pieces. And we can all use some of those any old time can’t we?
First up is lovely and unusual. Beautiful really. See what you think… don’t get bored, watch the entire video. You’ve got plenty of time!
How about a little something to do? Write a letter. A real honest to goodness letter, not an email. Preferably to someone you would like to thank for something in your life that arrived because of them. There aren’t too many people that I know that don’t love receiving mail. Letters may have become a thing of the past but they needn’t be. I have received one or two of these since emails began and you know what? I still have them! They are special. Who would you like to write to? They’d love it if you did. And you will love doing it too.
There always has to be something amusing to watch when you are staring at the same place for ages. This gem from Fawlty Towers still makes me laugh….
Quick music lovers quiz! Which was the Beatles hit that spent the longest on the charts? There are many to pick from…..
Did you get it right?
And this one from I Love Lucy is perfect for all of you chocolate lovers out there.
“Reflections from self-isolation in Bristol” is the subtitle of this blog. About 5 months of a combination of lockdown then some easing, social distancing, not travelling, no concerts or plays – the ideal opportunity for internal reflection, deep thought, sorting out one’s life – but somehow life has remained busy, full of things to do, I am not sure what deep thoughts or revelations have come to me. There have certainly been some trivial ones, and a lot of learning about a brand new disease. Kathy has primed me to share something of what I have learned about Covid, so that first, then some other thoughts from isolation.
Covid thoughts
It is important to stress that what follows is my personal understanding of what information I can find, it is not a textbook or authoritative statement, so please read it with healthy scepticism!
When Covid first hit us this year it was a new disease, we knew virtually nothing about it, we were ignorant because there was no knowledge available. Many mistakes were made, most countries locked down too late, but in the absence of any real knowledge reluctance to take such a major step which greatly damages people’s lives and the economy was understandable. Neither did we know how Covid spreads, which made it very difficult to take targeted action to prevent it, so we did everything, we stayed home, social distanced, decontaminated anything we touched, (including the mail) and many wore masks if they had to go out.
In the time since this first hit us, much has been learned, but it is difficult to find helpful information amidst all the complex information and false information being spread around. As an individual I want to know how it spreads. What is the risk of meeting people? Is there aerosol or droplet spread? What are the implications of this? Is there really a great risk of contaminant spread? And how many people are there out there in my area who are spreading this virus? – one of the major determinants of what I decide to do. And then…what is the risk to me if I do get the virus? It is only with some answers to these questions that I can make decisions in my life, that I can decide the risk of taking actions that are important to me, and thus whether to do them or not.
When the virus first hit us, we locked down to suppress the peak and stop hospitals being overwhelmed. There was a school of thought, which I admit seemed somewhat attractive, that if we are all going to get it anyway, why not do it quickly and get it over with. This is carefully reviewed in this article (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/931474?src=mkm_ret_200728_mscpmrk_covid_overwith_int&uac=365112EK&impID=2477899&faf=1): in essence the idea is flawed as with what we have already learned of treatment, e.g. nursing prone, when to start ventilation if needed, prevention of thrombosis, use of dexamethasone, and some other drugs, the chance of death if severely ill with the virus today is much less than half what it was back in April, and is steadily improving. Anyway, I want to survive to get the vaccine!
The virus enters the body by our respiratory tract, and when we are infectious is excreted from it. There seems now to be a consensus that outside of the hospital setting, the most common way of infection is by close prolonged contact with infected individuals in an enclosed environment, the reason why the major route of spread is within families.
Why is this? There is a great debate about “droplet” or “aerosol” spread. Initially spread was thought to be largely by droplets, large particles typically generated by coughing or sneezing, which rapidly fall to the ground or onto surfaces. This was the basis for the 2 metre rule, droplets fall so fast that beyond 2 metres you are unlikely to inhale them, although surfaces may be contaminated (more on that later).
This always seemed a little simplistic to me, especially when in my garden, I can smell a smoker passing by several metres away the other side of an eight-foot garden wall. Aerosols are much smaller and linger in the air for longer, up to a few hours, and spread farther. Aerosols can be generated by humans, especially when shouting, breathing heavily (e.g. exercise), singing etc. This sounds very scary, but the dose of virus in aerosols is very low, and with any degree of ventilation (including the open air) aerosols are rapidly diluted, so 2 metres was probably still good advice even if for the wrong understanding. Furthermore, in the open exposed to UV rays, the virus in the air only remains infectious for 8-19 minutes, although it may do so for up to 3 or 4 hours indoors. The virus is not one of the most highly infectious ones in the sense that more than a tiny dose is needed to cause clinical infection, some 20 times larger than the dose needed to cause measles. However, if you remain in an enclosed space, breathing and rebreathing the air, the dose you receive may build up and cause illness. This explains some of the major spreading events noted, choirs, gyms, places of worship, meatpacking factories, call centres, some restaurants and factories, and of course families. If aerosol transmission is of any importance, then the wearing of masks when in an enclosed space is a useful, but far from total, protection (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/931320#vp_2). This mode of transmission is now accepted by WHO and by British scientists advising the government as one of the ways in which the virus spreads(https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-implications-for-infection-prevention-precautions)( https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/907587/s0643-nervtag-emg-role-aerosol-transmission-covid-19-sage-48.pdf).
So what of spread by contamination? This is common in other viruses, including some corona viruses. Droplets contaminate surfaces, someone touches them and then their eyes, nose, or mouth giving the virus entry to their body. What is important to know is the dose needed, and how long the virus remains “viable” when it dries in a surface. An early study suggested the virus could remain infectious for up to 4 hours on copper and some other surfaces, 24 hours on cardboard, but up to 3 days on stainless steel and plastic. However the dose of virus applied to the surfaces in these studies was 100 times that likely to occur in a real situation. In practice contact infectiousness is probably a lot less than feared and does not appear to have been a major route of spread. Although caution and hand washing are still important, we have probably focussed too much on this (this is a very good article https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/scourge-hygiene-theater/614599/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR1EuJUDB3n6ZVEbMlGnmpXhq4ntFnE3YmZLm1R_ZNKVK98FIBxY6fSQqIo).
A good example of this analysis is an office block in South Korea, where the majority of workers in a call centre (talking loudly, long time, closed spaces) contracted Covid, but less than 1% of a thousand or so other workers in the block got it, despite passing the call centre workers in lifts and corridors, touching the same door handles and lift buttons etc.
Added to considerations on routes of infection is the prevalence of the virus. Bristol has a very low rate, probably less than 1 in 5000 people have it at any time, and the majority of those are not in circulation – they are isolating or unwell at home. The chance of any one random individual I meet here being infectious is less than 1 in 10,000 – but if I went to a large gathering the odds increase dramatically. On top of that, with new understanding in treatment the chance of death if you get the disease is less than half what it was a few months ago.
What does this all mean for me? I am not going to the gym, choir, restaurants or concerts (or even factories and call centres) where we are in close proximity to lots of people breathing the same air for over 15 minutes. We are not flying or using public transport. We wear masks in any public enclosed space. We wash our hands a lot! I happily walk down the street, or go masked to a proper open-air market which is well organised with good spacing, one-way routes etc. I am going fishing, a solitary hobby, but I spray the boat just in case, (obsessional, it has been in the open air at least 12 hours since anyone else was on it). We go walking, we see friends for tea, drinks or even a meal in their or our garden, and with carefully chosen friends who have been as cautious in isolation as we have, we meet inside with a degree of social distancing and windows open. We will go to appropriately organised shops if we need to. Our youngest son who has had the disease visited us for the first time in 8 months: after being on public transport he changed clothes on arrival. We may take a drink in a pub garden or open-air cafe.
With more understanding we are more relaxed and feel able to make our own decisions. Nothing is risk free, but while the prevalence remains low in Bristol, we do feel able to make decisions to do things which seem important enough to us to take the small risks we are beginning to understand. Nevertheless, roll on the vaccine!
Other thoughts!
Every morning we have developed the habit of having tea in bed, with half an orange each. One morning when it was my turn to prepare this, I was separating out the orange segments, there were ten, and I fell to wondering whether all oranges had the same number of segments. 76 six years old and I had never thought about this before! Mr Google informed me that all oranges have ten segments. This seemed an odd number to me, nature is so often binary, cells divide into 2 then 4 then 8 – 2,4, then 8 for nature to appreciate. How on earth did oranges evolve to have 10 segments, a very non-binary number. There are of course a few rogue oranges which lose or gain an odd segment, just like there is the occasional four-leafed clover. Come to think of it, how did clover evolve to have three leaves…………
Then there has been the hay fever season – lots of sneezing. We all sneeze a lot, a complex manoeuvre. It crossed my mind that as often as we do it, we cannot actually do it voluntarily, on demand – are there any other actions like that over which we cannot exert voluntary control. Hiccoughs come a close second, but I can initiate a pretty good imitation…
There is a big industry in hand creams, washing liquids which do or don’t damage your hands. We have been washing our hands furiously the last few months – but the skin has not changed!
Another result of Covid thinking is a forced acceptance of my age. I do not feel older in myself, but at 76, in everything I read about Covid, I find myself in the aged high risk category, the risk stratifications never start at 80 or 85, always 75 or below!
Lockdown has made me realise quite how privileged we are, in our large house and garden, our own little kingdom……
Then there is the excitement of lockdown ……
As for political observations and thoughts…..
This old cartoon from the New Yorker sums up my Covid thinking!
Should be: “I am not thinking anything, I’m just musing”
The world does not change much. These cartoons were from the New Yorker in 1981, except the last which was from about 10 years ago.
The weekend began as so many do in England. It got warm, (okay so not SO many of them start with the warmth…) and then it started to spit with rain as the dark clouds gathered. It’s still warm and the garden could use some rain but hey! Where is the sunny gorgeous day we were promised? It did eventually arrive and for the first time in months we had dinner outside! Friends came and we celebrated of course and ate a summer meal that was delicious.
Saturday was hot. Totally blue skies and sunny all day. We visited friends and had dinner with them for the first time at their place since March. Life is beginning to fill up a bit again with some of the things that were there before.
Still. I’m in a mood. I can’t quite decide why. Maybe it’s simply that the weather is changeable and unpredictable, or the kids are heading abroad for a holiday, or people we know are heading off to various destinations and I’m feeling a bit stuck. We also had a bill for our annual travel insurance. We won’t be paying it as we aren’t going to be travelling. One more reminder that when winter comes and it gets dark at four in the afternoon, we will still be here. Sigh. No wonder I’m in a mood. Add to that that our youngest visited and is now gone and who knows when we will see each other once more. Hmm. One thing I know for certain, this ennui won’t last. It never does, and there is absolutely no point in being annoyed with the world as it is. At least I’m in good company, Mrs. Obama says she is currently suffering from a low grade mild depression.
Maybe this article will cheer her up! It certainly made me feel a bit better for a moment or two so I’ll share it with you as it might perk you up as well and I know I am not the only one who needs a lift from time to time…
All I can say is that I certainly hope the writer is correct!
In Bristol, a pair of Gandhi’s glasses are going on sale. Apparently they have been in some Bristolians family for decades. They are expected to fetch more than £15,000 at Auction this week. It does seem a bit odd that someone who gave away all of his possessions is making someone else a great deal of money a long time after he gave them away. Life is a strange old place sometimes.
Meantime, the stats on the virus are looking encouraging here in the UK and not so much in France and Spain. Let’s see what our in house Professor makes of the local stats. I have been finding it increasingly difficult to find information about the virus all in one place so I’ve encouraged Terry to share his thoughts. When he takes off his fishing hat and gardening hat, he’ll put on his thinking cap and we will get some very sound and sensible information about where we are with this virus.
We mosey along the way I’m sure you do and keep finding interest in things that continue to surprise us. We keep moving forward and the sun comes out and then goes away again. This is Britain after all!
See you later. Watch this space. Tomorrow will be a view from my lovely man. As for me, I’ll be looking out for the next bit of life that catches my fancy. Enjoy!
Filled up with a ton of love and spending time with those you love makes life very special. It took longest to get to see our youngest. We’ve seen both of the other kids and their families twice. Now we’ve seen them all. It feels so good. There is little that needs to be said. All is as it should be. And on we can go again. Sometimes you just have to fill up with family and then you can deal with anything and keep going at whatever life tosses in your direction. That family circle of love is strong. Those shared memories are irreplaceable. They stretch back for so long! Love papers over all the cracks when everything else in the world is less than perfect.
And crucially turning to our friends is of equal importance. We’ve lost the travel and the concerts and the theatre and the restaurants and cafes and visits to churches abroad and art galleries. We need to keep in contact with the people we love. Fill up on family and keep topped up with the love and friendship of your pals.
Who knows what is around the next corner? No one! So we thank our lucky stars for what we have and have had and embrace the future with the gusto and verve that we always do. What else is there to do?
We planned a walk and a picnic for the day. The sandwiches are made the flask is filled…and the rain arrived. First for ages. Wouldn’t you just know it! We stall for time and wait awhile and see how we will need to adjust our plans.
While we stall I found an interesting report on the BBC that gives us four top tips that elite athletes use to achieve their goals. They are useful and interesting whatever it is that you are trying to achieve. You CAN …..!
1. When you get anxious tell yourself you’re not nervous, you’re excited! Excitement is an emotion that will help you feel positive. Go for excited over nervous every time. Your body apparently will support that subtle brain change. Better than telling it to calm down…which it won’t do.
2.Don’t do all the work yourself! (listen up ladies…!) Asking for support is a sign of strength. Who can you ask to support you in whatever it is you are trying to achieve? Nobody ever does anything on their own. Elite athletes have teams of people around them helping them constantly.
3. Visualise whatever it is that you have to prepare for. Think about what it will feel like, smell like and what you might see. Think about any challenges you might face so you can run through them before you meet them. Challenges will be less scary when and if they do come up.
4. Talk to yourself! I love this one…I am such a chatterbox and now if anyone hears me chatting to myself I can just tell them I’m preparing…as I probably am for something or the other! Let’s all be more like Mohammad Ali the greatest boxer of all time. He sold himself on being the greatest long before he was! And keep those self talks positive. No getting down on yourself…ever!
We have been marvelling at the little babies we planted in the garden and the amazing plants they have grown into. Another little tip for your continued success perhaps?
The poor people of Beirut have been slammed by an explosion that even seasoned war reporters are finding difficult to take in. Over 4000 people have been injured with a reported hundred deaths and another hundred people missing. Initial reports suggest that the cause was an accident. Massive amounts of explosives were stored at the Port and the building they were in went up in a mushroom like cloud. It sends shivers down the spine. There is too much tragedy about isn’t there?
Not tragic at all but at least of interest to some, the Football Association has decreed any footballer deliberately coughing on someone else on the pitch will be immediately red carded. Is this a thing? Coughing on other players? Why did they feel they needed to bring this rule in? The players are all tested twice a week so they are all thought to be not infectious when they play. Coughing at people should definitely be red carded outside of football. Maybe the FA are helping youngsters to see right from wrong?
Speaking of seeing, the UK, US and Australian Scientists have used satellite technology to trace and count Emperor Penguins. They have discovered that there are nearly twice as many in Antarctica as they had previously thought there were. A good news story! Still its filled with some poo…The scientific data relies on finding Emperor Penguin colonies by locating big brown patches on the pristine ice. These brown patches are guano, poo by another name. The brown spots enable the scientists to work out how many penguins there are!
Another use for poo may be coming a little closer to home. Testing our sewers seems to be a useful way of discovering where patches of covid are lurking. Health authorities can test the sewers and spot hidden clusters of coronavirus even before people have become aware they are infected. When a high incidence of the virus is found in waste water the health authorities can begin testing in a specific area. The Australians are using this approach to supplement other means of tracing the virus.
Some days life is filled with a great deal of poo. Fortunately for us, even poo isn’t always all bad news. Just as well as there does seem to be a lot of it around at the moment.
The New York Times is writing an article about Medical Bills Americans have received during the Coranovirus Pandemic. They have asked members of the public to send in copies of their bills and answer a few questions about them. One of their queries is whether or not you will have difficulties in paying this bill. Another, what hardships will you face in order to pay this bill?
Welcome to America, 2020. People are being charged thousands of pounds sometimes for a Coronavirus test. A test. Not treatment. Treatment can be thousands and thousands! One bill for care was $74,000. I responded to their request and pointed out that they need to tell people what the amount of the same care here in the UK costs. Nothing. Not a penny. Not any money at all changes hands. Routine prescriptions for over sixty fives also cost nothing. Tell the Americans about that I suggested. They really don’t understand. They can’t imagine that. They are not only worried about the possibility of getting the disease, but how they would pay for the treatment. Yet some Americans still think it is their right not to wear masks in public places.
Here there are many problems with the government, leadership is lacking and the sort of statesmanship that we have had in previous years has disappeared. Many of the giants of earlier years now seem to belong to a bygone era. Where are the voices today of those we respect and will listen to when times are tough?
John Hulme died yesterday. Watching the news about his work and hearing people talk about him was a humbling experience. He trained as a priest, and then became a teacher before he moved into politics. It was his work that led to the Good Friday Peace Agreement in Northern Ireland. There were those that likened his life to that of Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. He fittingly won the Nobel Peace Prize, and spent his entire life working for peace. Many of us want peace, and have even marched in solidarity with others in order to show our desire for peace and for equality. John Hume went further. He stood in front of guns, tanks and those who would do him harm and came away with a peace deal that is still in place. His single mindedness of purpose spanned decades. A true hero. Many young people in Northern Ireland still know who he is. They still appreciate his efforts. His adversaries also appreciate his talents and his indefatigable spirit. A man who served us all so well.
In the States, the funeral of another giant took place this week. John Lewis began his work during the 1960s and fought for peace and equality throughout his lifetime. He helped organise the March across the bridge, and Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” March in Washington. He was also one of the Freedom Riders…a black man riding on an interstate bus passing through the Southern States. Interstate buses were federal and the Supreme Court had determined blacks could ride on these buses without the usual (for then) inability to do so. The Freedom Riders were beaten, bombed and jailed, but attention was drawn to the plight of blacks. John Lewis went on to become a Congressman. His funeral was carried on all the Networks in America, including Fox News. Apparently, Fox viewers switched off the station in droves, America has a long, long way to go.
Enjoy what you can safely as the pandemic numbers seem to be rising.
Today is a day like no other since lockdown for us. After eight months, we are finally seeing the youngest son. To be fair, I had a half hour visit in March in London, at a café as I handed over a package and headed off to visit a friend in need. We had big hugs. It was the first time we’d seen each other since our NZ trip. No hugs this time. I don’t trust myself to do the train station pick up as I’m sure I would weaken and hug. I was reminded when we set up the visit that I must not do this. First, he’ll come into the house, shower, change his clothes and put on some freshly washed clean ones. Then we’ll hug. Or should we socially distance for the next few days? He’s worried for us. If he’s asymptomatic he would never forgive himself if he infected us. We take the risk. We think he’s had it even though the antibody test was negative. This is new territory. Adult kids are a joy and a delight and we miss them when we don’t see them don’t we? We have a lifetime of their lives intertwining with ours. We will meet and all the fears of the virus will disappear for a bit. We meet later this afternoon. I’ll let you know how it all goes. Or maybe I shall just savour the next few days and not say another word.
In the meantime, my choir is saying goodbye to the lovely Nicolas Bromilow who has been the choir’s Musical Director for seven years. He is a rising talent. After receiving a scholarship to teach and to complete an advanced degree in conducting in the States, he is on his way. Sadly, the virus has postponed his taking up his place. We have no doubt he will be conducting choirs, and orchestras for years to come once this pandemic ends. Lat evening we gathered and socially distanced outside on the Downs. The weather was kind – cool but dry. It was the first time the choir had met since March. We had to remember not to hug, and not to sing. What a task for a choir!!
Below is a Zoom recording our lovely accompanist put together of our choir members singing our goodbye song. I’ve been in many choirs in my life, but none of them were conducted by someone as able, gifted and loved as our Nick.
That’s it from me today…I have cakes to bake, rooms to ready and hugs to have.
Later.
Have a great day whatever you get up to! Wear your masks, socially distance and be safe!
The lion roared! He sounded as though he was on the street just outside the garden gate. Thankfully he wasn’t. He was in his cage at the zoo. We live very close to Bristol Zoo, and for the first time in years we heard him. What made him roar now after all these years? Was he trying to tell us something? And if so what? That he too is bored? That he is fed up pacing about a cage that is far far too small for his bulk and his wit? The lion’s sound makes me stop in my tracks and wonder.
This morning the gibbons were at it, we hear them more often and they sound playful and full of energy. The lion did not sound either energetic or playful. We were sitting in the garden when we heard him, celebrating having had a glorious summer day and seeing our dear friends for dinner. Then the winds blew and the rain came and we took our glasses and headed inside. The weather turned like the lion in his cage and in we trot. Mizzy rain chased us inside. We had our second dinner party inside the house during covid. When it came time for our friends to leave we threw caution to the wind and hugged. These guys are friends we normally have dinner with several times a month if we or they are in town. Hugs are part of normal. They and we are careful and doing all the right things. We wear masks, socially distance when we go out, don’t go to anywhere that large numbers gather, don’t go to cafes or restaurants. We are not quite normal but we are slightly unlocked and our cage door is not shut. We are not prowling around our home unable to leave anymore. Stuff you virus fears! We left you behind as we begin to carefully go out into the world. There must be a balance to this though.
The scenes at the country’s beaches this weekend were once more a scary sight. Police were turning people away and yet the thousands who found a place to park stayed. Meantime, the virus is beginning to creep up. Slowly, not as rapidly as it did in March, but nevertheless numbers are rising. This process of unlocking has to be slowed. Boris Johnson told us at the start of the weekend that we needed to pump the brakes. He blew it awhile back though. Apparently, according to a recent survey, numbers of people social distancing has fallen dramatically. Especially amongst the young. The Dominic Cummings effect together with the fed up doing all the social distancing and mask wearing effect means many have stopped bothering. Bothering? The easing of social distancing and the reopening of society means the numbers are climbing. We really do need to be careful! Some people either have given up or are just not taking any notice.
At the local market this weekend, I went to the plant stall to buy a few replacement plants and some lush looking plums. When I got my credit card out, the non mask wearing stall holder said, “cash only”. I was annoyed. “I haven’t had any cash for months” I replied. “There’s a cash machine just over there at Tesco.” As I was wearing a mask he probably couldn’t see the full force of my annoyance. “I don’t think that’s wise.” I left the plants and the plums. I was stood about ten feet away from this chap, and had no intention of picking up the plants he had placed in two plastic bags as though nothing was changed, everything was normal.
Getting away on an airplane however has finally become something we can do! Insurance provision is being supplied by one of our favourite airlines. New Zealanders look out, we might get there! Emirates is providing travel insurance to customers. The airline will pay medical treatment, hotel quarantine and funeral costs for passengers who catch covid-19 while travelling. Oh. Maybe not. Funeral costs paid? Hmmm. Maybe we will stay in our lovely home and garden for awhile longer. The lion sleeps tonight. But the silent virus does not.
