The Numbers
121 new deaths taking the total to 36,914.
The News
Its all about Dominic Cummings for the third day in a row. Today he gave a press conference where he went through all the details of his illness and his experience.
So sick of hearing about it now. He broke the rules, end of!
A hospital in Somerset has declared a state of emergency and is closed to admissions after an influx of Covid-19 patients.
It’s been a blazing hot Bank Holiday and beaches and parks are rammed with people.
The New Way of Life
As we enter our 11th week in isolation, it’s another Bank Holiday today! Yet another one that has come and gone just like every other day in the Time of Covid.
Last night we went a bit mad! We started watching a new mini-series called Little Fires Everywhere. It was very good. We kept saying “Another one?”, “Oh go on then.” We ended up watching all 8 episodes and going to bed at 2am! I’ll repeat, it was very good!
We tried to make it a different kind of day. We did a little bit of work in the morning (finished a chapter of my biography project) and I had my usual walk. I took some gloves and a bin bag and picked up some litter as I walked. I was sick of looking at endless cans, bottles and fast food cartons, as well as other “paraphernalia”. I’ve no idea what the kids get up to down at our little nature reserve (well I do a bit). Lots of used balloons and little shiny cannisters. Some sort of drug but I don’t really know which one.
In the afternoon we went on a bike ride and then took our chairs and a rug down to the village green and shared a bottle of wine in the sunshine. It was lovely! Relaxing and far more entertaining than sitting in our back garden. Lots of people about to watch and chat to from a distance.
We had a BBQ when we got back then watched Killing Eve and SAS Celebrity Who Dares.
Our neighbours managed to lock themselves out so we had a little chat to them while they waited for a locksmith to arrive.
Lockdown seems to be slowly coming to an end. Fizzling out. People are relaxing more and shops and bars seem to be preparing to open again. But anyone, who thought that when it was all over we would have a massive party as going to be dissapointed. Rather than it being on one day and off the next, its going to be a slow drizzle of easing lockdown measures over the next few months, maybe even years, I fear. Some things like hugs and handshakes might never be resumed in the way that they were commonplace before. Some shops and businesses might never re-open. Concerts and sports events might never take place in the way they have before. Our world is likely to be changed forever.
It’s hard to think of new things to write about every day. Life has become very dull. Well, not dull. We’ve settled in to our Covid groove quite nicely now. We’re never bored. We feel strangely content and resigned. It’s just that our little routine of lying in till 9 or 10 every day, taking turns to make coffee which we drink in bed, doing a little bit of work/writing, a bit of reading, a little walk, a little bike ride, a few Face Times with friends and family, cooking, eating and watching TV, can’t be very interesting to read about.
Before Covid, we would go out at least once or twice a week to a pub or restaraunt, to the cinema or the theatre, to our writing and photography clubs, to meet friends and family for coffee or drinks. My daughter and granddaughter would pop round at least twice a week. We’d go shopping to buy clothes or things for the house. We’d take the train into Birmingham and mooch about.
At weekends we’d often travel to see friends or family (my parents and sister live in Harrogate), we’d sometimes travel further afield for sports events or just to visit places we haven’t been to before. We’d host family visits, Sunday lunches and parties. We’ve already cancelled a trip to Athens in March to see our granddaughter who is working there for a while, a trip to Marseille in May to watch the European Rugby Finals and discover the city, and a visit from our son who lives in Sweden. God knows when he’ll ever be able to visit us again. This summer we had tickets for the tennis and cricket in Edgbaston, music festivals in Mosely and Solihull. All cancelled.
We love our holidays. In January we went to Barbados, last year we went to the Outer Hebrides in April and drove to Sweden in June via The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The year before that we went to India. This year, we were planning a cycling holiday in September – no chance of that now. We’re still clinging to the hope that somehow we’ll make it to Barbados in September or October, and be able to stay there until the following spring.
This week it is our youngest granddaughters 2nd birthday – we won’t be going to her party. She’d not having one. We might drive over and wish her a happy birthday from the driveway when I deliver the cake.
So, if you’re reading this, some time in the future (I like to imagine my granddaughter reading this 20 years from now – by the way, I love you and miss you so much little one), we weren’t always like this. We had a life that was full of variety, and rich in adventures and new experiences. We have just adjusted to The New Way of Live. I don’t even feel particularly sad about it any more. It doesn’t strike me as strange any more, that the most exciting thing I did last week was carry a rug, two beach chairs and a bottle of wine down to our village green and drink it in the sunshine, watching others from a distance do the same.
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