Before anyone gets the wrong idea, this isn’t meant to be a government induced instruction to comply with recent activity restrictions. WordPress emailed to say I hadn’t put up anything in a while, so here I am.
Day to day at the moment has fallen into a fairly simple routine. I am still betting up at 6.30 am, except when I adjust the alarm clock for BST and add an hour but deduct a day, so for an hour or so Monday was still Sunday.
I have also dropped the daily head shave – not sure why, but once a week seems to do for now. The rest is like times haven’t changed, although the short journey to the office is extremely deserted.
As the only one in the office, and the only one with any active work to be done – the rest are now furloughed – I can have Radio 4 on all day. It takes me back to the years I spent working from my attic office in Bristol. The serialisation of Hilary Mantel’s latest is on at the moment, but have a feeling it is a bit of a plot spoiler as I haven’t read the first 2.
I know, I know. But then how many of you have read all of Dickens?
The only moveable break in the routine is when I pop round to pick up my canine office buddy, who is very useful to disguise the fact that, from time to time, I am talking to myself. Out loud.
Yesterday was April 1st, although current circumstances make April Fools pranks a tad difficult, especially in stir crazy scenarios, where a joke could lose its humour level very quickly.
But the one of best parts of the day is at a minute or so past 2.00 pm. The Archers. Now, in recent times this long-running serial has covered some relevant, tough and important topics, in amongst the minutiae of a daily story of country folk.
However, and the reason that this is an oasis in the day – COVID 19 doesn’t exist in Ambridge. Never happened. Not a thing at all. No social distancing, no medical emergency, no government incompetence – well no more than usual.
At first it was a little strange, that there was no reference at all, but each day at 2.00 pm now is just pure joy because of its absence.
Taking the dog for a trot regularly, and helping to support my favourite locked in people also add those moments of connection to what used to be the normal day.
But, thank you Ambridge, for having recorded far enough ahead to be able to ignore the existence of nature’s revenge – that’s my current theory by the way.
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