Fabulous day, today. Full to the brim of lovely stuff – physical, mental and spiritual.
We were up reasonably early this morning to get ourselves a bit ready for friends Pete & Dawn, Alison & Peter, and Sally & Leigh, coming round this afternoon for lunch. It was one of those…. ‘If the weather’s fine, we’ll have a barbecue. If not, we’ll eat indoors.’ The weather was predicted to be unpredictable, however, so we decided to abandon the barbecue idea altogether.
I asked the girls what would suit them for lunch instead. ‘A ploughman’s?’ ‘How about a jacket potato and different fillings?’ ‘We could bring a picnic?’ In the end, I opted for a posh ploughman’s with a jacket potato. It was lush. Plus puddings, which John was pleased about. I think he thought it was his birthday.
Well, it wasn’t John’s birthday, but it was Pete’s yesterday, so we pushed the boat out a little bit – hence the ‘posh’ bit of the ploughman’s – and we were also thrilled to be drinking champagne that Pete brought round. That was lush, too. It really is my favourite drink.
I left John prepping the salad just before eleven o’clock, while I toddled off to yoga. Oh, I needed that class today! I missed last week due to baby-sitting duties, and I have been failing generally to keep up on a daily basis. The class was perfect. Stretched and calmed me in all the right places. Refreshed the spiritual me, too.
When I got back, John was exhausted with the all the prep – he’d worked hard while I’d been out. Equally, though, he didn’t feel great today, so it felt an effort to do the work. “Go and sit down,” I said, “Have a rest.” He said he wasn’t going to argue – a rest was what he needed.
Prepping finished, we were delighted to welcome our lovely friends. It’s a while since we’d seen everyone together and there was lot to catch up on. Oh, yes – no-one stopped talking all afternoon and into the evening. Brilliant.
This evening, I had more chat – this time with the college crew on Zoom, while John rested and watched a bit of TV. Once again, it was a sight for sore eyes to see dear friends and to talk to them without any need to hold back. I do love the friends that I have my life. Thank you to every single one of you for being there.
A bit of bother on the COVID front however, with the incidence of infection increasing again. 36,572 people tested positive for the virus today and 113 died in the community. In the last week the numbers have gone up by 7.8% and 9.6% respectively. And the schools haven’t gone back yet. Worry, worry, worry. 46 people died on 17 & 18 August in hospitals – and it’s no longer just the elderly now, although the majority are over 60 – oh, heck, that’s our age group, gulp!
I am finding it hard to compute that ‘people’ are no longer being cautious and seem to be happy to let the virus just run. We need a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in my opinion, which may just hold the virus at bay and see the likelihood of mutations diminished. Our current policy ain’t working, as far as I can tell. Someone tell me I am wrong, please…..
In the meantime, I am doing my best to stay upbeat and came across a part-poem that I thought was rather helpful. I found the whole poem and I offer it to you here, and hope you enjoy it. God bless.
The Good Life….Gives No Warning – by Mark Strand
Usually we think that only difficulties come without warning………harmony and abundance can seem to come without warning as well:
You stand at the window.
There is a glass cloud in the shape of a heart.
There are the wind’s sighs that are like caves in your speech.
You are the ghost in the tree outside.The street is quiet.
The weather, like tomorrow, like your life,
is partially here, partially up in the air.
There is nothing you can do.The good life gives no warning.
Filched from ‘improvised life’ website – a treasury of inspiring ideas
It weathers the climates of despair
and appears, on foot, unrecognized, offering nothing,
and you are there.