Making Hay while the Sun Shines.

This week I should have been up in Wales going to the Hay Festival for the first time, but of course it has been cancelled, but to my delight they have gone online instead with free talks. I have been to three so far and just logging in for a fourth. Mine was the first question answered by Chinese writer Lan Yan about her history of recent China and how much younger people learn about the Cultural Revolution,  however, it is not yet published in Mandarin. 

Meanwhile down by the river it is almost normal the rowers are back and signs that the cafe, which did not have to close at least not for take aways, is maybe about to open again. Another glorious days weather.    Blogger is changing parts of their format,  not sure I like what I see but will probably get used to it. 

Confused messages

I think I have got to the stage when I no longer understand what the Covid 19 rules are.     We can drive to a beach and sit there with hundreds of other people but I cannot go into a friend's house or Wales  and if I fly to Croatia where the pandemic is much milder, I have to self isolate when I return to the UK,  even though I have entered from somewhere safer and if I break this rule, I can be fined £1000.  But Dominic Cummings when already suffering from the virus and despite having friends and family in London, apparently, and at the height of the lockdown is acting legally and responsibly when he drives 250 miles to deposit his child there for them to look after?      And the PM wonders why he is having to justify his stance.


Meanwhile a bit of me regrets that lockdown more or less seems over here as everyone seems to be having visitors or bbq's in the back garden.    

Why are people so disgusting?

So a couple of days ago the bin at the bottom of our road got removed. I am not sure why.  But a woman and her dog have just come around the corner and she - the woman, a perfectly normal woman, the kind of woman you would expect to be morally upstanding just because she looks normal, chucks her bag onto the ground where the bin would be and casually walks away.

I wanted to hit someone in the queue who lit up today and I begin to worry the lockdown is making my internal rage explode.   I am guessing a lot  of "naice" people underneath  are seething that people do not follow the common rules that make life bearable.  And of course as well as angry, I am judgemental and hypocritical cos I come home and stuff my face until I cannot breath, which is just as irresponsible.   But I wonder if the lock-down is adding to the sense of frustration as we have so little control over our lives. Except that in some ways it is all about how we control our own moods at present.  I seem to be having a loosing battle with my many elephants.

For example I know it is stupid but when I see something that I have done on the community allotment that is trying to encourage growth or be meaningful, I get upset when it is undone. Something in me needs to be seen to be worthy,  which could be why even in the allotment God goes oh no no you don't if you try planting something it will die or you try doing something beneficial it will be trashed. I know others do a lot, but I seem to need to be valued,but cannot be valued unless I do something valuable.   The woman from that stupid volunteer agency is right I am passive aggressive, but that does not mean that when I comes to volunteering that I cannot for the most part control this emotion.    And I still think it takes one to know one. See not rattled about it still at all.

I am reading the book  The Long Song by the late great Andrea Levy - it has a central incident in it, which when I saw the TV series, I  felt that as a viewer I was struggling with because in some ways I shared the "owners" view of this situation rather than that of the heroes - the slaves.  Was my own racism and intolerance being revealed or was I right to see something in his moral plea to his former slaves - a bit like when one appeals to people to do right and not smoke and like today equally at a loss as the owner when an appeal to reason is rejected. His response was violence, undermining all his good intentions, but perhaps revealing his inherent racism all along.  Or do we all get violent, if only emotionally, when our ego is bludgeoned.   She raises difficult questions about slavery, power, people.    And this virus also makes demands on our sense of self too.

Work Wednesday and helpful advice

I do not know if it is because yesterday was Work Wednesday, the day all workers were being encouraged back to work if they could not work from home, but Hoddesdon seemed almost normal. Cafes were not opened but they were offering some take away services.    The market was open so that was good, but the queue outside Sainsbury's was so long that I decided to give up and even the little Sainsbury's had a queue, so not a very successful shopping trip.


I have just realised that the College of Naturopathic Medicine has a series of free lectures online with regard to boosting the immune system to help it cope with the Coronavirus.    The advice seems useful.  Having checked out Dr Mikovits - I have found a better fact checked article than the one by the BBC - which is also critical of her but justifies its criticism more clearly.  https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/fact-checking-judy-mikovits-controversial-virologist-attacking-anthony-fauci-viral

Meanwhile the Government is under further attack for failing to address the issue of the spread of Coronvirus within the care sector. Wuhan has had one or two new cases, but the spread seems limited.   And most significantly it looks like a way of checking whether one has had the disease is imminent. I would love to know if I have had it.    However, no one knows if that will grant immunity or if it grants immunity how long it grants it for. 

Conspiracy or cock up?

Everyone is scratching their heads today, yesterday despite only being responsible for English policy re the virus,  Boris went on air to announce a change in policy, that did not seem to have been discussed with the other countries of the UK,  where they have not changed their policies. Boris seemed to be telling people despite it being only a few hours away from work on Monday morning, that even though no guidance had been issued that they were expected to go back to work this morning provided they did not use public transport.  Complete mess, complete farce.  No wonder Nicola Sturgeon looks at the end of her tether. Even Tory spokespeople are at times admitting the message could have been clearer.    The Government has resisted a staggered change in the lockdown in parts of Britain even though some areas are not affected as badly as say London on the grounds that they do not want to cause confusion with their message, but today everyone is trying to work out what the new message stay alert (the world needs lerts) means. 




I was recently sent a video outlining the dispute Dr Judy Mikovits has with the way that the virus is being handled in America. The person who sent it feels that there is a conspiracy to stop us hearing alternative views. I tested this assertion by both watching the video to judge her and the quality of the information for myself and by putting it up on Facebook. It lasted 5 days.  I thought some of her views were clumsily expressed and if some of it is not accurate she could be sued for libel, but when another post on facebook from the BBC Specialist Disinformation Service slammed the video for being full of stupid science, I went back to watch it again, this time from a version I had been forwarded on What's App, as I thought the BBC description seemed inaccurate. Having re watched it,  I still think the BBC's assessment of the video is sloppy to say the least. SAdly because the video is being taken down, people are not being given the chance to assess for themselves the advice.  If I remember rightly she talked about the potential use of a malaria drug in the treatment of Covid 19.   Interestingly when the BBC interviewed Prof Peter Horby who apparently is heading some of the trials into potential meds or was talking about those trials in the Uk, he was pro the medicine that reduces the impact of the virus that is being tested in the states, but was  very dismissive of this malaria treatment - ahead of the trials.   So how is that being detached and scientific in approach?    All this fuels the idea that there is a conspiracy.   And still no mention of things like vitamin C treatments or other oxygen treatments even though there are some specialists urging that these also be trialled.   I have decided to do a free OU course to improve my knowledge and understanding of medical viruses to help me assess the comments going viral on the topic.

I have just found another example on the BBC some of this is useful and I will try and go over the information to verify it, but of course we cannot go back to the source as it has been removed, but some of it would seem to have some errors in it too. Sunshine has Vitamin D in it so is helpful for building the immune system to enable people to fight off the virus and similarly Vitamin C has been used in China and the states to treat the virus for the same reason.  The results of the trial are still to come out,  but Jack Goodman has dismissed these as potential treatments and used them as examples to say why she is wrong.    No wonder us mere mortals find it difficult between varying scientific opinions and sloppy journalism. 

V. E. Day - Very Enjoyable.

Some of the oldest resident, some of whom have lived here since the houses have been built. 

water hoses at midday

Our between houses picnic. 

Only the adults managed social distancing

Absent friends. 

What a brilliant day - the best day I have had in the street.  I know that normally I would be sniffy about the idea of putting out bunting, but somehow from the moment of the invite knowing there was going to be a party was exciting. perhaps this is how Jane Austen's heroines felt when after a long winter stuck at home they got invited to tea.  I felt positively giddy from the moment I woke up.  A quick trip to the shop gave me provisions for the day, then Lisa from next door and I hang out of the window passing bunting through and just after twelve we had begun to put food out.    I thought from the message that I had received that the party was going to be short, but 12 - 1.30 turned out to be the starting time rather than the complete time.  I stayed out till 3 and popped out again later too but up the road the party carried on until about 8.  The sun shone, adults stayed in their drives a safe distance from each other and the kids played and played. I just felt in a good place I even sang with Andy downstairs, who is both cheeky and a professional singer!  Everyone was in good spirits. It was a time to talk, listen to a bit of music and just get to know each other a bit.    I know from the outside I would have thought it jingoistic, but from inside it just felt like a bit of fun. It was only at the end of the day, suffering from a bit of sun burn that I realised that I had forgotten to wear my mask all day - though I had always maintained a safe distance.  I think we just all felt glad to be alive and able to enjoy the day.

Tonight in theory Boris has changed some of the rules apparently we are to be alert and as we know the world needs lerts, but really he set up things to be changed dramatically, failed to discuss things with Scotland, and when he came on TV,  I was so bored after minutes cannot even tell you what he announced.  

A Friday bank holiday planned.

I was very puzzled a week or so ago to realise that tomorrow while be a bank holiday.    I had no idea as to why it had changed to a Friday, but apparently tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of VE day.    Because the internet is not so good on the weekend I decided to take the day off and as the weather is again good had planned to go for a nice long walk, but to my surprise and delight I have been invited to a front yard party as part of the celebration so tonight I am making impromptu bunting.   I think it will only be a chance to say hello really but hopefully will be nice. 

More and more around here though it seems like social distancing and lock downs are becoming more and more flexible.  But Boris is not announcing anything to Sunday. A cynic might say that is because it will get less press coverage, but he says he is not sharing with Parliament as new data is coming in all the time!    The Scottish First Minister though scuppered hopes tonight with her intent to carry on in lock-down despite the worsening effect of the virus on the economy.      She looks shattered.   Whilst I think some things have gone well here, the continuing tragedy in the care sector is enough to haunt anyone in power.