What time is it ? It is dark and gloomy and I have little idea what time it is . The sun has not risen and there is no finger of light punching its way through the curtains . It could be anytime between 4 am and 6 am. I lean over to try to read the time on the alarm clock . That is shrouded in darkness . . The luminous fingers of my watch are slowly moving around the dial but they are so weak that without my glasses I cannot work out what time they tell. It is Monday . I know that . I also know it is day 183 and the start of another Covid week - week 27. I should not be lying here screwing my eyes up trying to work out how much longer I can lie in bed . I went to bed later having rushed out to look up into the night sky. My reminder told me that the International Space Station was passing overhead now . There it was . On time and where the app told me it would be. It was lit up. Illuminated and slowly passing overhead. I
moved slowly across the sky from right to left . I might have missed it if I had been a minute later. It was up there with the astronauts working hard watching me watching them . Beyond them in deeper space two bright lights . Jupiter and Venus . I could rise now and hope that I could go outside into the darkness and see the 59 Elon Musk satelites making their orbit around our earth . Instead I lay there counting the seconds in my head waiting for the alarm to go off .
The alarm did go off and I set off for the first swim of the week . What would this week look like ? The usual suspects were in the swimming pool . I swam up and down counting the lengths , looking for colours on the walls, on the posters. I filled my head with nonsense until it was time to get home for the morning coffee. Today we heard from the chief scientific officers . It was woe and tales of dreadful times ahead . Six months more of this misery . Six more months of lockdowns, of businesses failing . We
could look ahead to a winter of discontent . Flu vaccinations were starting in a vain attempt to protect the older population from the seasonal flu bouts . Hospitals would be full again with Covid 19 patients . The numbers were going up and the R rate was in the headlines . We are seeing over 6000 new cases a day . Is this because we test more ? All I want is normality and not all this doom and gloom .
Will our house move be affected by lockdowns and Covid ? It is clear that rationing might start again as panic buying sets in . I head for Chesterfield and it feels almost normal with the exception of masks. What is not normal though is being unable to buy a battery for a watch or a watch strap . We gave up on those and pick up windscreen wipers to replace Gabbys old ones. There is always maintenance to do on a van whether you use her or not .
Tuesday - Day 184 a walk today . Autumn has set in. The mornings are much darker than last week . They feel much colder with
a distinct chill in the air . Covid in the spring and summer might have been acceptable and bearable but Covid in the Autumn and over the winter does not bear thinking about. We are told we should go to work and then in the next breath we must work from home . The pubs are closing at 10. The young still party. Students are locked down in their hostels . They are angry . We are walking on a foggy morning . The mist hangs on every tree . Clinging like a limpet . Gone are the mornings when we can go out in T shirt and shorts . Even a jumper is not warm enough. It is coat and gloves weather . I am not sure where to walk . Walking less I should enjoy it more but somehow it does not appeal quite as much as it did six months ago . Have I exhausted the area and need pastures new ?
I choose Hockley Lane . A bungalow which was empty is now having work done on it . A conifer hedge down . I am reminded of the overgrown one in the
new property we are buying that needs a serious haircut . It has been left to grow out of control .
