Tuesday 10th November 2020 Day 231
5.45 This seems to be my new waking time for the moment , funny how it goes in patches.
7.00 It looks as if it is going to be sunny this morning after the really heavy rain in the night. My fuse box tripped on one of the circuits twice yesterday evening, it seems to be making a bit of a habit of it and maybe I should get it checked but I have my suspicions it is to do with the pond electrics.
9.30 Yvonne has joined us on What’s App video for our weekly check in, although Janet cannot be with us this morning. We discuss menus and appetites and vow as we always do, to be good for the coming week. This intention for me usually evaporates by lunch time as it did today when I decided I just had to have cheese on toast.
10.20 Sarah and I meet at the pub for a walk. Sarah is going to take me on a route I have never done before, even though it is only just down the road. Through the old Duckings estate where
once there were two manor houses and then out into fields where Audrey thinks her ship has come in when she sees the masses of pheasants. It is an excellent walk except that three quarters of the way round, the sun goes in and there is a heavy shower. Sarah produces a small umbrella but we both manage to get absolutely soaked. It is lucky it is so mild and when I get home, a complete change of clothes.
I have just been looking back to when I first started this diary in March. It makes me aware of what a very different mind-set we had then to the pandemic, it was a sort of strange novelty and we faced up to it with a ‘We’ll get through this’ attitude. There was a togetherness and we zoomed and what’s app’ed and quizzed and there was a huge outpouring of emotion and gratitude to the NHS and all the key workers for the wonderful selfless job they were doing. Kids painted rainbows and put them in their windows and in the case of one of my great nephew’s, drew them in chalk on the road!
What do we do now? A second lockdown of sorts. It is no longer a novelty, more of ‘an elephant in the room’. We’ve said everything there is to be said about it and this latest lockdown, in which schools, universities and most shops and businesses seem to have remained open, with murmerings that it might continue till Spring, we seem to have taken more with an ‘Oh well’ attitude. The most I hear about it is when someone says ‘Oh are we allowed to do that?’ because most people are unsure of the latest rules. For me, I find I don’t need to keep contacting people anymore, in fact I think I have become quite insular. I suppose it is complicated and to do with survival mechanisms and maybe different for other people.
It seems that a new vaccination has been found to work over 90% of a large group of people who bravely offered themselves as guinea pigs, some of whom were placiboed. Unlike the regular flu vaccines which are not live, this one is likely to cause fever for a few days but of course they cannot know what the long term effects might be. I expect I would have it if offered but only because of where I am in years, I’m not sure I would want my children to have it but of course it is good news.