Lockdown from Bridport - Part 3 - Day 5

Anyone seeking thrills and spills may as well look elsewhere today. There simply is nothing doing. Take the case of the Christmas Decorations for a fine example of sheer desperation. I fished out all the twinkly lights and proceeded to drape them round the mirrors of the house to jolly the place up. Does it work? The jury is out so I'll get back to you on this one. 

Saturday morning.. so it's a trip down to Waitrose to pick up essentials for various households who are currently shielding. It's actually quite nice that we know virtually everyone we pass by. The greeting is 'Hi' with a resigned smile rather than 'Hi, how are you'? (Not a question you ask anymore, unless you know someone extremely well). On the rare occasion that people have lingered there's an awkward shuffling of feet whilst we agree that actually its all crap. Not that I have any reason whatsoever to complain as, compared to so many others, I don't know I'm born! Nevertheless I was really looking forward to my holiday this week in deepest Cornwall. The Landmark Trust farmhouse overlooking the wild Atlantic just took my fancy. With sporadic electricity, no phone signal, no Wi-Fi, no TV... what more could you ask for? A true escape if ever there was one. I didn't want to go anywhere fancy, I wasn't pining to get on a plane, I simply wanted to have a change of scenery. I guess I'll sit here instead amongst my twinkling lights and count my blessings.

I decide to go and change the shop window after someone remarked it looked frumpy. "Quelle horreur" It was so bitterly cold in there so I wasn't about to linger but I guess its a way of keeping myself amused, albeit in a small way. 

I think 'restless' is a good description of how everyone's feeling right now. I wished I had the ability to sit and stick with something productive. Like tackling my second novel, started a while ago, like tidying the bookshelves, like folding up all my pullovers, like sorting out any number of winter coats...

But I don't do any of the above jobs instead preferring to catch up with old friends by either phone or online chatting about absolutely nothing in particular, simply skimming on the surface of life at present. I like to think we are all supporting each other in any way we can. It may seem insignificant, our exchanges may seem small and inconsequential but we are keeping going as best we can by being there and showing we care for each other.

We are bombarded of images of people fighting tirelessly on the front line, utterly exhausted and near to being overwhelmed by the current situation. I discuss this with 'The Undertaker' whose life and work hasn't really changed through lockdown. I'm struggling to find a box to fit into. A 'useful' box would be good. 'I know' I exclaim cheering up immensely, 'I'm part of the 'Home Guard', That large unseen army of people keeping the home fires burning.

That'll do.