Sunday 13 December
10.32 am. It’s very wet outside and due to get wetter as the day progresses. But the football is back and I am about to referee two matches back-to-back in Wivenhoe. A short journey from home. The tea shed will be closed (Covid) so I’ll be taking a flask.
It’s going to be good to get back on the pitch (again). Some exercise for the body and the brain. Not that the brain hasn’t had a severe workout over the past few months! I do note, whilst typing this on my phone, that my wrists have a slight belly-shelf to rest on. That needs to be worked on, and what better opportunity than Christmas and restricted access to activities?! Ah well, today will at least go some way to helping.
Looking outside, I’m aware that the bird good has run out. Obviously not being around has meant I have let the side down. I heard Robins (multiple) chirping outside the bedroom window this morning, they’re doing their bit, I must do mine. I’ll restock supplies this week.
When the weather is as saturated as it is right now, everything hangs heavy with a sense of melancholy. The trees’ branches are the lightest they’ll be all year and yet they look sad, brought down by the nation’s mood. The grass has grown just long enough to bend over at the top and in places fall completely flat. We need a breeze and some dry, cold sunshine to sweep a meteorological arm across the deck. Clear the air and the downbeat mood. It will come, just not today.
11pm. Fantastic afternoon on the football pitch this afternoon. I get so much from these games and I actually feel that I’m pretty good at it. Now, I have always been pretty confident but have tended to undersell myself. But the feedback I get from managers and players is encouraging. Plus, I keep fit, both body and mind. It’s also a fantastic distraction from everything else that’s going on. I’m really not too sure how long we will be playing as I (and most people) predict a further spike in Coronavirus cases in January and February, after the festive period has done it’s worst.
This evening I started a jigsaw and watched some telly. Specifically, Countryfile, on BBC One, was based along the southern coast of the Stour estuary, which this summer became the latest extension of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which starts along the Suffolk coast.
Among other things, it made me realise how much I am missing the birds. Busy life, work and home, means I can’t spend time sitting and watching. Redshank, Dunlin, Godwits are the winter stars of this place where we live. We walk along the Stour virtually every weekend but I must start bringing my binoculars with me. And hopefully, once we stop for the Christmas break, I will get out there with a flask and bins a little else to get some time with the waders.
The Bald Birder 