Hello and welcome to my first blog of 2021.
If I'm honest I am not surprised that we are currently in Lockdown 3. The news over the Christmas period wasn’t good and the spread of this new strain meant the outcome was unfortunately inevitable. I have taken to watching Dr John Campbell on Youtube. He gives a sometimes complicated but always non biased view on Covid 19. In recent videos he has covered the N501Y mutation, vaccinations, the up to date stats and figures for the UK and USA. He is a qualified Emergency Nurse and lectures nurses in training at a University in England. As I have an interest in Anatomy and Physiology and how viruses work (they are clever little blighters) I find his vlogs really informative and not scaremongering. News reports can become so negative.
So I am now thinking how do I keep some semblance of sanity during what for many of us is a difficult time of the year anyway, with the poor weather, short days and nothing to look forward to. Hence our departure to warmer lands during January when we get the chance. For us it seems totally inappropriate to holiday anywhere at this time, when the country is so obviously in a state of emergency and so many people are working so hard to protect us and nurse us back to health, if we become ill.
Some close up shots
Basically for me it is the sense of loss of control over my life choices at the moment, that is the most unsettling. So I am concentrating on the things I can control and not dwelling on the what if and what might be.
So regardless of the weather we try to take a walk everyday. Today was extremely cold and foggy but I managed some really nice photos and can you believe watched three women swimming in the river. It was minus 3 degrees at the time! Now Im not saying we would go that far exactly, well at all really, but with lots of layers on we managed to stay warm enough for a decent walk. I didn’t feel quite so righteous having watched the swimmers when we arrived at the swimming spot however.
I tried something new last night and joined a zoom group. Set up locally there are 4 free zoom meetings over the next four weeks to introduce various ways of coping with stress and wellbeing particularly over the lockdown period. Last nights introduction to Mindfulness was really good and once I got used to how the whole zoom thing works, this did involve pressing buttons at various times and things, I really enjoyed it. I have signed up to next weeks, which is about stress management. Note to self must remember to tidy up the background mess before logging in and perhaps turning a brighter light on!! I appeared in silhouette apparently!! All part of the learning curve.
We have taken to watching the birds on our garden feeders over our breakfast cereal and crossword each morning. When the little blighters appear that is. We think they are spoilt for choice in this area and are becoming very selective as to where they feed. We obviously do not have the best bird seed on offer. Having said that we have seen quite a variety including:- Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Wren, Robin and a Ground Feeding Woodpecker, lovely. In fact we are probably enjoying the birds more than our daily crossword, which instead of getting better at, we seem to be getting rather worse.
I bought Garry a Lego Campervan to build for Christmas. He has decided to video it and has so far put one video on Youtube. So if you fancy a bit of slow TV give it a watch. It's nearly completed!
In order to have something to look forward to later in the year, in the hope we are free of lockdown I have gone ahead and booked some camping sites. Our membership with the Caravan Club does have one main advantage in that you can book their sites without paying a deposit. Fingers crossed and with a fair wind, as Boris said recently, we hope to be travelling again and bringing you further tales of our adventures.
Some shots to whet your appetite
We won’t be travelling outside of Britain this year, but as we live in such a beautiful country I for one won’t be thinking I am missing out on anything. We are hoping to get back up to Scotland, The Lakes, Yorkshire, Dorset, and of course not forgetting our most favourite of places Cornwall. Having said this I am not getting too excited about the prospect at this point, just in case, but I like to be prepared. We both really do miss exploring and the sense of freedom our little Hygge brings us.
I will finish on the following which I wrote a while ago now and think it is rather relevant again today, so I will leave you with it.
My new word for this month:-
SONDER
‘’The realisation that everyone you see, everyone who passes you by, has a life as vivid and complex as your own.’
I was watching a video on the BBC Website about a couple who got bored looking at the same view through their window during lockdown, so they created a website called WindowSwap, where they invite people anywhere in the world to send in a photo or video of the view from their window.
Lets just say they have been overwhelmed by the response. In a good way!
So I spent 30 minutes immersed in other peoples’ world.
From night-time Hongkong to the Pyramids of Giza,to the tooting horns of city traffic in Brooklyn NY. Watching the rooftops of Bogota, Colombia over an unmade bed, to an alleyway in Rome. The birdsong, music and tree outside Leigh and Tim’s in London to the birdsong in Mysore India. A passing cargo ship in Mombasa to the rain in Tehran accompanying the sound of domestic life in a kitchen.
I have witnessed a sunset in Sao Paulo Brazil (never dreamt I would see that) and watched some interesting street life in Calcutta and I’ve admired a wonderful view over a Sydney suburb. St David’s Bermuda and its turquoise sea and I loved the dramatic snow-capped peaks in Nunoa Chile.
What have I discovered? Cats really like windowsills. Dogs meander around - a lot. People make as much noise in their kitchens as I do. Birdsong is beautiful wherever it is in the world. There seems to be a lot of rain, so not just Britain then! The stormy seas at Los Destiladeros, Panama reminded me of Cornwall in winter.
There are very large gas tanks in Chittagong. There is a noisy building site the other side of washing drying on a veranda and the noise of the washing machine in Cairo Egypt. The spectacle and horror of a wildfire in Argentina.
People arguing, children playing, frustrated car drivers tooting horns, a cacophony of noise everywhere. Music playing which I recognise well and a few songs I don’t and day and night, from all corners of the world, the sounds of everyday life goes on.
To quote a line from a well-known song sung by Louis Armstrong some time ago now:-
‘What a wonderful world’.
Wishing you all a Healthy 2021.
Garry and Caroline
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