The best part of the day was definitely first thing. I was up walking before six and I barely passed another person today. I think the people who set out to do their "essential" exercise on a daily basis at the start of the lockdown seem to have fallen by the wayside. Each day there seems to be less people out early. Or maybe they decided to mark the Bank Holiday with a little longer in bed. Whatever the reason it was a very solitary walk. I returned to spend a couple of hours sitting in the garden; breakfasting, coffeeing, reading. The tabby cat came to visit again, smiling. The squirrel skittered across the fence, wary of me.The wood pigeons looked at me, grateful for the water in the bird bath and the peanuts I put down for them. I know a lot of people find the pigeons irritating. Their noise, they find disturbing. I don't. I love the sound. It reminds me of summer when I was a child. I still have an enduring memory of waking in my childhood bedroom that I shared with my younger sister. We had pink and white regency striped curtains at the window. On this particular morning the sun was shining in through the stripes and I can remember feeling a frisson of excitement because it was a sunny day. It was the school holidays.And the pigeons cooed. I hear them now and that time comes flooding back to me. And in the midst of this pandemic panic the pigeons coo and I'm a child again.
My friends took advantage of the nursery and garden centres opening to pick up some plants for their tubs and hanging baskets. But, best of all, they picked up some potting compost and topsoil for me. I can do do a little more in the garden and repot some neglected houseplants. The Thompson and Morgan fiasco continues. They reckon they will send the compost out by the end of May now but cannot shed any light on why I cannot see my order online. I wait with bated breath!! In truth though I don't want to be too unreasonable. Companies are up against it at the moment. With decreased staff and decreased stocks it must be very hard to keep up with the demand. But my query was more about why I couldn't chart the progress of my order online. Yes, I wanted the compost. But if I could've seen what was happening online I might not have bothered getting in touch with them.
The government have issued a new - slogan - for want of a better word.
I'm bewildered. I'm staying home as per instructions so where does the 'stay alert' come in? Other than to make sure I sanitise anything coming in to the house and social distance myself from the very few callers I now receive. 'Control the virus'? Sorry. I simply do not have the necessary scientific and medical knowledge to do that with any level of efficiency. Rest assured if I could I would have done so a long time ago!! 'Save Lives'? Again, bit beyond my abilities. I understood it more when I was following the 'Stay Home' directive because that related to the 'Protect the NHS' intention. I can only presume that the much heralded 19.00 address to the nation this evening will throw some light on what our PM actually wants us to do. I already know what I'm going to do. Exactly what I have been doing. I shall stay home. And for once, I don't think I'm in the minority here!! But I will delay the posting of this until I have 'experienced' the address tonight. See what gives. I am not optimistic.
So I watched the ministerial broadcast. Not something I do habitually. I'm not in favour of pornography! But I thought I should make sure I am completely in the loop this time. So I watched it. Am I in the loop? No. I found the speech vague and waffly. That's not me being politically critical. I didn't feel that the points were made cleanly. But I will have a go at summarising. People who can't work from home should try and go back to work on Monday. But they should observe social distancing and avoid public transport. Don't go by car if it can be avoided - alternatively cycle or walk. We can take unlimited outdoor exercise. Drive to places.Sit on park benches. That's exercise? You can play sports too but only with members of your household. I will sit back and wait for the exploitation and abuse of that easing. Some pupils could return to school in June - Reception, Year 1and Year 6 . Secondary school pupils facing exams should get some time with their teachers. And in July at the earliest some opening within the hospitality industry and public places with social distancing. It was stressed that this is all conditional. The reproduction rate of the virus - R - must be kept down. No change for me as I implied earlier. I will remain in complete lockdown. I doubt I will take any more exercise. However it does occur to me that if the sunny weather returns and the noise in my garden becomes too much I could in theory go up to the cliffs with a book and sit on a bench. Whether I will or not remains to be seen. I'll let you know. Thank you and goodnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment