I check my diary this morning. It tells me I have been locked away for eighty days! I feel the sad waste of my life, as we all do. As we get older every minute of life is precious. Every hug we miss and every child's smile we don't see, are lost gems.
This last week, we have been reeling from the audacity and arrogance of a 'Special Advisor' and a weak 'Prime Minister' who have both destroyed our trust and insulted our intelligence. We have concluded that our Prime Minister can't actually cope without his nasty, but clever advisor. Can we forgive this? Will those who have denied themselves contact with dying relatives forgive this? Will the 40,000 people who have received fines of up to £100 for breaking the coronavirus rules be understanding? Will this be remembered when we come to make a really important decision, like an election?
We are told to 'crack on' and support the Test and Trace programme. Whoops: forgot; it is now the Test, Track and TRUST programme! Will people discovered to have been in contact with an infected person be prepared to lock themselves away again?
The success of this programme, which ought to have been continued from 12th March and which helped other countries reduce their infections, depends on TRUST. The App, designed to assist with this, seems to have got lost on the Isle of Wight. Maybe it fell into the Solent!
I once lived for three years on the IOW and I know it is suspicious of 'Overners'*, so maybe it has decided 'not to bother' Impatient and capable councils, like Manchester, are getting their own Test and Trace programme underway. So we now have an independent programme.
I am, at this very moment, listening to the Saturday 1pm News and hear that respected scientists are warning that it is, 'Too soon' to drop the lockdown because the infection rate is still too high. This is the latest news which we should listen to before we send our children back to school.
There have been some pleasant events in my life this last week. A friend cycled across Manchester just to see me through my window and have an intelligent discussion and some happy laughs. She really appreciated the emptier roads!
Also I am grateful to other friends who have given me time to come for a chat across my three metre spacing. These friendships and family protection are keeping me sane. My son sent me a video of his bees swarming. So noisy and scary but they obediently returned to follow their Queen and get on with their business of collecting honey.
Finally, I want to share with you a simple beautiful event. As I went to bed on Thursday night my poppy plant had some tight little green buds. I woke on Friday morning to find four glorious pink flowers had appeared overnight. I am forever amazed at nature's ability to produce such magic.
Finally, a suggestion. Are you over seventy years? Are you creative, whether a knitter, a writer, a poet or artist? Well have a go for a £1,000 prize. Research via the KING LEAR website. Closing date 19th June.
*Overners. People born on the mainland not the Isle of Wight.
Main photo shows Alice's visiting cycle friend
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