No longer leukaemia….but isolation, Day 33

Saturday, 18 April 2020. The rain is falling, livening up the gardens. The plants are standing taller and look excited to be drinking in the fresh rainwater. It’s a beautiful sight. How did I never notice this before? Too busy, of course. As I watched the rain, I was reminded of that lilting poem ‘Leisure’ by William Davies, so well-known, so poignant, so apt. Now is the time to stand and stare……..so I did and appreciated Beauty’s glance:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Down to earth and on a different plain, I found myself ‘shopping washing’, ‘letter washing’ and ‘parcel washing’ yet again. Malcolm brought our groceries (thank you) round, so they got the great ‘rub over’; the postman brought letters and DPD brought a parcel that got the same treatment.

We opened the letter addressed to Grandma and Grandpa. Oooh, what was going to be inside? A home-made Easter card from William, how thrilling! With his footprints representing a bunny and carrots, it’s one to treasure.

What about the parcel then? We didn’t think we were expecting anything, but thrill of thrills, it was the steering wheel! John could hardly wait to try it in the car, only to find, disappointingly, that it didn’t fit. Oh, cruel fate!! Back to the drawing board.

Moving on from washing anything that arrives on our doorstep, I put my heart and soul into vacuuming round, but was delightfully interrupted three times. Firstly, a little video of Freddie, beating up a poor piece of kinetic sand, which had no answer for him. Oh, I do love him – he’s such a card! Then the doorbell rang, and Livia was standing there, smiling and offering us her traditional Romanian Easter cheesecake. What an unexpected and thoughtful surprise. It was delicious and polished off pretty quickly, I can tell you! And finally, a bittersweet conversation with the Sutton Sleaths; William was under the weather and needed medical attention at Heartlands Hospital. Always a worry when you hear such news, but he was an amazingly brave boy and soon home with antibiotics. Phew! Fingers crossed they work quickly.

As the day wore on, my thoughts turned to entertainment. What would we do for distraction today? Watch Phantom of the Opera on YouTube? Oh, go on then. Highly recommended by dear Anita, I thought I’d give it a go. Mum and John slept through it. I watched and enjoyed the brilliant singing and character portrayals throughout, but I am always uncomfortable with the subject matter, and this time was no different. I have promised myself that I’m not going to watch it again, no matter how stunning the production is – all that bribery, cold-blooded, calculated murder and abduction is too distressing.

Which brings me to the distressing news that a dear man I knew from church, the artist, Trevor Boult, died this week. I am grateful to own some of his originals and prints to remember him by and I wish him God speed. Praying for all his family too.

The cause of death wasn’t COVID-19, I understand, unlike the 888 people who died in hospital from it yesterday and the 5,526 people who were infectees. The figures in relation to Coronavirus still don’t make for great reading and it’s all still a very big worry for our society. Take care everyone. Let’s not get slapdash, let’s nurture our precious lives and make what we can of them.