OUR STRANGE NEW WORLD

(Socially distanced, of course) I'm told today is the one hundredth day of the lockdown.  The lockdown never really felt locked down in the same sense as some of the very harsh measures taken across Europe.  I think early on the scientists and government recognised the novel Corona-virus (aka COVID-19) is a disease of confinement and proximity.  Being outdoors, soaking up the rays and having your body generate vitamin D the natural way, it turns out, is probably a good thing.  So I never really stopped going for a walk with a camera.  Early on, I sought out the wide open spaces, and avoided people who were, for the most part, kind enough to return the favour.  The air was cleaner, the blue skies a little bluer, the bees seemed more numerous than usual for the time of the year.   Eventually, it became clear that more and more people were venturing out.  The recreation area, pictured above, became a place to avoid at certain times of the day, s...

(I don't always get it right) One day in April I made what, by then, amounted to an epic schoolboy error!  I forgot something vital, important and necessary, while shopping, and needed to go back the following day.  Of course, the following day in question was the day before a national public holiday.  I queued accordingly.  At our local Tesco you now enter by the one true entrance; you leave by the one true exit.  Sometimes, they swap the two around, just to catch you out.  It can seem dystopian but, in truth, it's just systems of humans trying to work stuff out.   If there's a long queue, you either walk away or you queue.  I've walked more often than I've queued.  I don't drive, so shopping is more frequent and more about keeping on top of things. On that day pictured above, the choice to walk was absent.  Once in the supermarket, sometimes it is quite pleasant; sometimes it can be like shopping in Gilead. Marthas and Handmaids a...

(What will the really small places do?) The pictured bar is called the Temple of Convenience, usually shortened to The Temple.  It is an old public toilet converted into a drinking establishment and is absolutely tiny inside.  Unless the owners are allowed to serve drinks in the space outside, I'm not sure how it can open on July 4th.  In fact, I'm not certain how any pub or restaurant that isn't large or has an outside space (or both) can operate profitably, or how they will operate.  If I sit facing a friend or colleague, will there be one of those ubiquitous perspex screens between us?  Or will the great British boozer be laid out like a classroom?  Speaking of perspex, hindsight is giggling manically and screaming "Why didn't you invest in perspex?" at me.  I hate hindsight.  It claims wisdom but is not wise.  I much prefer foresight. While I'm keen to meet friends and colleagues for the first time in months, I'm in no rush to do this ind...