Isolation Day 82

I was in the slough of despondency yesterday, feeling tired of our day-to-day trudge through the current situation and guilty about my ignorance of world affairs. Today, however, offered hope and a lift to the trudging as well as some learning.

We had had few expectations of the day. The only thing that was planned, and we were looking forward to, was a Skype session with dear Peter and Dawn this evening. Otherwise, the day yawned ahead of us with ‘more of the same’. But, in the end, it turned out to be rather good.

Firstly, I had a short, but interesting, ‘path chat’ with Malcolm this morning, as he called to drop off a bit of shopping. Mindful of my intention to find out more about racism, particularly in this country, he highlighted some information about #BlackLivesMatter, which generated a bit of discussion both at my front door and here on the blog page.

Then, a little later on, just as I am up to my armpits in washing-up suds, the doorbell rang, and who should be standing at the door but the Sutton Sleaths, beaming their heads off. Surprise! Surprise! They had ventured out to a small, local bakery this morning and, not wanting to go straight home, had decided to take a run out in the car over to us. I do like surprises!! The weather wasn’t a great deal better than yesterday, but at least it was warmer. Oh, my! It was so wonderful to see them.

Not only did they bring themselves in person, but they brought a couple of photo albums that they’d had printed – one of their holiday in Wales before lock down, and one of the whole of lock down so far. A cracking idea, which means we can look at the photos whenever we’re missing them. They also brought us goodies from the bakery, as near to John’s paleo diet as they could get. For once, we didn’t really care how ‘paleo’ the goodies were. We were definitely going to eat them.

On the journey over, William had been learning how to throw us a hug and a kiss. And boy, did we get a lot of them when he arrived. So lovely. Then we had a good old socially distanced chat before we waved a sorrowful goodbye when it was time for them to go home. But our hearts have been refilled for a while and the visit, boosting our spirits no end, left us feeling better able to face the day ahead.

Mum, meanwhile, had snoozed through it all. I had woken her as usual, and she thought she might get up then. But slept on. I woke her again at mid-day and left her to get out of bed. But she dropped back to sleep again. Finally, just after what would be lunchtime, I went to see what she was up to, only to find she had fallen asleep again. This time, however, I didn’t leave anything to chance but hovered as she finally eased herself out of bed.

It was just as well, really, because not long afterwards, my phone rang on a WhatsApp video call. It was Paul and Freddie. Freddie was in a high state of excitement. He was so excited that he just about managed to stammer out that they were going to have a picnic at our house. For a moment, I thought we were going to do a ‘virtual’ picnic like we had once before. But no, this was for real.

Sure enough, a little while later, the Kenilworth Sleaths arrived – just as the heavens opened with a hailstorm. Ah. Best wait in the car then, until it passes. Once it stopped, we hurried about, wiping down the chairs in the garden and gathering wood to light the cheminea for a bit of warmth, before settling down to another wonderful family socially distanced chat.

Freddie had his picnic, and ran about the garden, thrilled be here again. He ate cherries like there was no tomorrow and grinned his cheeky little grin, his face covered in cherry juice, before setting off to play on the swing. Paul and Harriet had thoughtfully brought a bottle of Prosecco. Should I have any? Well, it would have been rude not to, wouldn’t it?

We gathered round the cheminea, keeping our distance, and keeping warm. The sun shone intermittently, and the wind blew, but we were glowing with happiness. Such another wonderful surprise today to see them face-to-face, as well as the Sutton Sleaths. Our cup runneth over…….

Of course, drinking Prosecco in the afternoon is always risky, isn’t it? I mean, I managed to cook the tea OK – but it was late. No sooner had we eaten than it was time to chat to Peter and Dawn. We had a lovely evening together, but there were moments when I felt my eyelids dropping…..and I had stopped drinking the Prosecco a couple of hours earlier, too!

On a promise to myself to learn something about what has brought our societies, here and in America, to protesting about the treatment of black people, I ordered a book from Amazon, which arrived this evening. Just one book – well, you’ve got to start somewhere, haven’t you? This time, it’s ‘My name is Why’ by Lemn Sissay. I don’t know what the next one will be, but there is a very long list emerging….. Thanks, too, to Mark, who knows about this stuff and has ideas for my education on the subject, and to Malcolm and George who threw information into the pot today. There’s lots to learn about.

Yesterday (5 June 2020) the NHS reported 17 deaths from COVID-19, with the previous day’s total having risen from 19 up to 53 confirmed. The government reported 204 deaths and 1,557 people having been infected.

The figures feel meaningless now, because each one is still a tragedy and yet we are no longer shocked that people are infected and die. All we can do though now is to be vigilant in keeping our distance and keeping our hands washed. God bless.