Day Fifty - Friends, Ferries, Simon and Garfunkel

I went for a walk this morning but I shouldn't have done. My activities of yesterday wreaked havoc with my ageing frame. I went to bed hurting. But because it had eased when I woke this morning I decided to go for it. I'll admit that I nearly turned back a couple of times but my stubborn determination drove me onwards and I completed the full circuit. But the day has been a sedentary one complete with painkillers. I have already decided I shan't go for a walk tomorrow. and I'll simply do a gentle stroll to the chemist on Thursday in the hope that I'll heal by Friday.

There's rarely a morning goes by when I don't see at least one container ship sailing up the estuary to the docks, probably to Tilbury, maybe on to London. Full of what? I don't know. One person from my Tai Chi class put a photo of a cargo ship on Instagram with a caption suggesting supplies were still getting through okay. We hear virtually nothing about sea transport in respect of coronavirus. Are the ships checked; the captain. the crew? Are the goods they carry sanitised upon unloading? Are the dock workers subject to any scrutiny? Are they unsung key workers ensuring we get the things we need?

A friend of mine had to take a road trip yesterday to help her son relocate to the Midlands for a new employment position. I found  it fascinating to learn that although the roads were busy with lorries (more supplies, guys) there wasn't anywhere near the normal amount of traffic. She said they went  into motorway services for a wee but it was eerie because most of the shops were shut and it was dark. They wore masks and gloves.

There are suggestions that the UK might implement a 14 day quarantine for anyone arriving in the UK. Presumably by air. No one has mentioned the ferries. Airlines UK say that will kill air travel. I'm not sure 'kill' is a good word to use here. Covid-19 kills. But it kills people, not air travel. Anyway wouldn't it have been better to have had more effective screening right at the start of all this. Testing and tracing at point of entry might have saved us all much heartbreak. I think about the UK's handling of all of this and I think locking stable doors and bolting horses.

It's getting glum again.  Let me see. I've been listening to Simon and Garfunkel on my walks and joining in lustily. How is it I can remember the lyrics to these old songs but I can't more recent stuff? Simon and Garfunkel have been part of my life for years now. They got me through my 'O'levels. I went through all their albums in my head while I was doing the exams. I met Paul Simon once. He'd been appearing at the London Palladium. My friend and I went round to the stage door in the hope of seeing him. We were in luck. He came out. But of course he was absolutely surrounded by throngs of fans. I managed to get close and hand him a piece of paper and a pen. And he signed me an autograph. But he hung onto my pen to sign autographs for other people. So when the security men tried to move me on I said Mr Simon has my pen. So they let me stay there and I stood right beside him. And then he said whose pen do I have? And I said, it's mine. He gave it back to me and then I shook hands with him and thanked him for all his music. I wish there'd been smartphones around then for I've no photo to confirm that. But I do have the memory. And as the man himself said, "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you.'