Tuesday 17 November
This post marks another mini milestone for the blog. Two thirds of the way through my one year project. 365 days was my target. Well actually, a daily blog through lockdown (the first one) was my initial target. That changed.
Today I celebrate doing nothing. I have just woken up from a brief doze next to the radiator and the dog. This blog developed into, amongst other things, a celebration of those simple things that are right there in front of me. What can be more simple or ‘right there’ than falling asleep when you haven’t actually gone to bed.
Sitting up in a chair, not lying down. Outside of the times that are usually set aside for sleeping, there’s almost a naughtiness about it. They’re rare and the best ones are only for half an hour or so. They’re often abruptly ended with a drop of the head or noise from somewhere else in the house. If someone walks in on you, it’s like you’ve been caught doing something illicit. The automatic response is to apologise or make excuses. Even chastise yourself. Here’s to the nap.
Covid 19 update – yesterday saw Boris Johnson start a 14 day period of self-isolation. His phone app ‘pinged’ after someone he met with on Friday at No.10 tested positive at the weekend. Another vaccination is finalising it’s testing phase and is showing signs of being 95% effective. A further 23,000 cases were confirmed yesterday, fortunately deaths would appear to be flattening. People are getting severely fatigued and frustrated by the whole thing.
A simple pleasure today? I took a step outside into the daylight, and took a deep breath of cool fresh autumn air. It’s almost like having a shot in the arm. In the morning I get up in the darkness and leave work to drive home in the pitch black. I must work to get some fresh air and daylight in my eyes at least a couple of times throughout the day. Its undoubtedly what makes me pine for the weekend so much more than during the spring and sunmer, when the long nights mean we can walk the dog before bed. Deep breaths of fresh air and that lovely head rush of oxygenated blood. Wonderful.
The Bald Birder 