Tuesday 5th January 2021 Day 287

10.00   I have just finished a long phone call with my very good friend whose fifty + son is struggling with the Covid infection and in fact this is his second bout of it and this time so much worse.  After three weeks he was finally advised to go to the Princess Royal hospital in Haywards Heath yesterday, where he was found to be severely dehydrated.  They carried out multiple tests which all came back satisfactorily, other than he has damage to his upper lungs.  He is now home with oxygen to help aid his recovery.

I remember last year when the virus was at a similar peak, everyone was saying ‘Well I don’t know anyone who has it,’ now I think everyone I know, knows someone else who has had it and some have had it themselves.

So, with that in mind and in view of the current lock down announced by a much more authoritative sounding Boris last night, I have decided to

hibernate completely for the next few weeks, tempting as it is to go for walks with one other, I shall ‘Walk Alone’ RIP Gerry Marsden and am going to stay put and hope it won’t be too long before the vaccine comes this way.  How lucky we are to live in the countryside where I can walk, mostly without seeing another soul.

12.30   Just back from said walk and true to form, didn’t see anyone else at all.  Today this could partly be because other people have decided not to venture out in this disgusting weather.  I think I should put up a picture of a sunny day today, just to remind us what a difference it makes!

I have decided to make an effort not to drink alcohol this month, not that I drink that much anyway these days but of course the minute you make that decision, the one thing you want to do is pour a nice glass of wine.  There is a bottle of red across the room from me and I swear it’s waving at me, I think I had better ban it to the cupboard.

Much as we are all going to feel somewhat imprisoned in our houses, for me there is also a sense of emancipation. Doesn’t matter what I do or when I do it because there will only be me here.  I can have my dinner for breakfast and breakfast for lunch, rearrange the furniture in some odd way, play the piano for hours on end, watch tele all day and let the washing up pile up on the side.  The funny thing is that actually I can’t.  I suppose it is all about not dropping standards and ingrained habits, like for some reason I still have a spray of scent when I get dressed.  The only concession I have made is that I no longer wear nail varnish which has resulted in my having much healthier stronger nails, so result there!

Now I am sure I have a picture of summer somewhere….ah yes summer and crowds, that’s a good memory for today.  Raft race on the Ouse at Lewes, summer 2015