Swift and mostly fine.

 Having felt rather ill all week I was not sure I would get to my appointment, and felt very anxious by the time the taxi arrived, not helped by the fact that the taxi driver was not wearing a mask.  So having been hidden away most of winter suddenly I was in close proximity to someone who seemed completely unaware, even after I commented on the fact that this was probably the most dangerous thing I had done recently .    But luckily within minutes I was in a small queue of slightly confused people, had my name taken, but not ticked off against a list, and then was called forward with another person, so both of us were in the room together, and I was glad I could show my arm without having to take my clothes off. Then I was out. Nowhere to sit for 15 minutes or anything. Had I known it would be so quick I might have asked the taxi to stay, but in other ways it was good because I felt better than I had all week and was happy to walk to the shops and from there home.  I now feel very spaced out but that could be the 3 mile walk.    Probably good that I have cancelled work though, just in case.    I have been invited to a zoom meeting tonight, but think I will give it a miss, third of the week.   

I actually got to a good talk about women in unions.   I have a virtual friend, one of the people in the singing group,  and she is a lecturer and it was lovely to get to hear her work and have my brain work for once.  

More head in a spin.

 I have been called up for a jab!  I do not know h ow and now some friends are saying it cannot be right as am too young, but all I know is that I took a call on Monday, given the location, asked if I have symptoms or am allergic to anything. So I decided to cancel work for the weekend and go.  Somehow in my muddle of panic about how do I get there is this real, the taxi turned up this morning instead of Friday.  

Aparently there has been rioting in the streets of Holland, people objecting to be being curfewed.  This pandemic certainly splits people with regards to how to approach this thing.  Speaking to a friend in Canada recently things are in some ways a bit more relaxed - her grand-daughter can visit, but in other ways less relaxed,  as the four year old has to wear a mask.    Meanwhile apparently in Wuhan the course of the virus is being re-written by the authorities, who have pointed out that the virus was in Europe earlier than anticipated, so Wuhan may not be the source.       Speaking with a student from Wuhan recently, he said he feared the authorities would come in and kill the residents of Wuhan to stop the spread of the disease.  Luckily it did not come to that and a year later things are fine in Wuhan whereas the virus has really taken off in Europe and we have topped the 100,000 death mark.  

Luckily cultural organisations are still keeping us all going and this weekend I had the fun of Drawing with Scissors as in Matisse with a live online workshop.   

Scarier than ever, but also very impressed.

 Just when hope seemed to be on the horizon,  a welcome thought when almost 2000 a day are dying,  there are new question marks about the vaccine as care home dwellers who have had the vaccine continue to get Corona Virus badly and some still die from it!    So the way out of this seems to be closing down, especially with new variants around. 

I take comfort and worry more too from the case around mosquitos as malaria still kills many more than the virus and it has taken years to get anywhere with how to live with mosquitos safely,  but this programme was very interesting as it talked about the benefits of mozzies and how challenging it is to find a way to protect people from them.     Who knew, for example that, out of all the species of mosquito that only 150 of the types are deadly and it is only cos the mums are trying to provide good protein for their off spring.   But just getting rid of still water can help reduce the problem immensely 

Meanwhile, congratulations to some thoughtful young women who have set up the campaign Choked Up - to challenge the Government about the air pollution and the damage it causes our lungs in the wake of the death of Ella Adoo Kissi Debrah.    I remember, when my sister was little,  being concerned that her push chair put her in direct line with gunk from cars and the issue was no better 24 years later when Om was born    We spent much of his youth going to hospital owing to  the pollution where we lived in London but luckily he was much better once we came out of London, but no one should have to move to avoid pollution, the pollution should not be there.    But now Ella's parents have managed to get a ruling that the pollution contributed to her death.  Out of their tragedy, and knowing that Covid victims are more vulnerable if they live where it is badly polluted one can only hope they succeed in getting Government action at last.   The campaign only seems to be on Twitter at present, which I do not have, but hopefully it will develop out from that.  

Small pleasures.

 Who knew shopping online could be so exciting. At Christmas I have farm fresh organic food dropped off and now I have taken my first Abel and Cole delivery.   I never thought I could afford them before but they only charge a small amount for the delivery and whilst I am not able to go out and I am still working I might as well treat myself.    And in the process I can pretend I am keeping myself healthy for the nation!. 

I have resumed my trips to the allotment to shovel shit, (the manure has arrived)   I miss it when I am not there.   

Meanwhile I find myself doing less and less work in the run up to getting my pension so am finally sorting out my photos.    Struggled for hours with Jessops online system for creating my own photo book, but hope the end result will be worth it.   Having indulged my love of travel the last few years there are rather a lot of pictures unlabelled or lost that need recovering. 

I had planned to be showing possible purchasers of the flat around this weekend, but fear re the virus has got the better of my lodger, rather than me,  though I do get why he would be worried about having someone here.   Last time I tried selling through Yopa only one person in over a year wanted to come to the place but within hours two people wanted to come here.   Everyone tells me that Broxbourne is a virus hotspot, how they know I am not sure but at least four people have told me this, so perhaps it is wiser to wait for a bit.   And of course putting the flat up for sale has once again made me appreciate it!   I am such an annoying person, I know that only too well.   It took some time and I never meant to learn to love this place as the whole purpose was to rent it out,  but at present it is a little haven. 

Best red peppers ever.  

Shreeeek

 Community allotments can be the cause of great stress. 

Having nursed an area over winter and slogged my guts over the path on the other part of the allotment, knowing at present I was the only person doing anything more or less,  it was a ghastly shock today to find some of it dug up.  

I appreciate someone else was trying to be kind, but it was a ghastly shock. I have known for a long time that at some point other people would come along who do things differently and in truth we need other people to come along, I definitely cannot do it on my own, nice though it has been, it is a community facilities, but then I want to know why is it that when I do things there on my own initiative they are cruelly criticized and undone, but when someone releases a whole load of greenhouse gases into the environment they are praised. 

Having said all that of course, I have spent the winter pulling up living beings to create a path that I personally probably would not have bothered about doing, but it is apparently what is needed and I have got great pleasure out of bit by bit doing it.   And of course I then go home and put on the kettle which is just as bad for the environment and when I can I will take flight again.   It is my own fault for selling my house in the first place, which had its own garden. But at the moment, once again the community allotment is causing more immediate stress than anything else in my life and more pleasure and given the pandemic raging around us that is saying something. 

Where I got my information from re winter digging: 

Snippets from the front line.

 Having moaned to a certain extent for years about having to work on, now the idea that in a few months time I will not be talking to the world seems weird.  It has been such a privilege to enter people's lives and the nice thing is that I am still in touch with two of my long term students.  Most one meets for a moment and then that is it, but some you teach for ages. Today I was teaching a woman on her electric bike whilst she cycled home from work!.  She told me in China students are all tested on a sport, so her daughter had to take swimming classes.  In the next class,  students confirmed that basketball has taken over in China as the most popular sport.   The courts are around each city and people seem to like the fact that it is a team game.     One student talked about how he choose his English name, often something of interest to me, but one rarely discussed. Apparently he did not like the name Jacob, which his American teacher gave him as Jacob was a bad man in the Bible - need to check that one, so he adopted the name Karl, after Karl Marx.   

In the next couple of months will try and return to this to capture the spirit of some of the classes. Fewer Europeans at present but not sure if now so many countries are back in lockdown whether that will change or not. 

New Year and it is still bleak.

 New Year's Eve is always frustrating to me - the lost chance to  bogie the night away,  the desire to go just a little crazy,  was even more curtailed than usual as we are not allowed out.  A nice meal sometimes is not enough.  

And the day after there is always the dilemma that when the year turns somehow we are supposed to do something and in some ways be different.

Last night at 11pm fireworks went off.   People celebrating Brexit not the New Year.  Why am I still here in the UK?  It is if one knows there is a disaster and yet instead of getting off one just heads towards it.  I do not understand that, even though that has been a regular course in life.   Of course with luck things will be okay, and to my amazement a last minute deal has been done but that feels very fragile and made much more so because of the virus.  Just watched Dr Who but reality is more weird and more challenging.  We will have to somehow grit out teeth and get on with it even more.  No new dawn, just more small scale life and hopes one will get through it.     Compared with previous times it is still easier than it was but today things seem a little bleak.  

Update 4th January - some Brits have been turned away from European ports in Holland and Spain!.