One day in the life of …

As an international boulevardier I am often asked how am I coping with lockdown.  The answer is fine as we all have to  adapt.

I have felt for a few weeks that (1) we are over the worst; (2) people’s self-interested interpretation of lockdown has morphed into non-compliance.

Just as Constable painted within the narrow confines of East Bergholt so there is life to be observed in limited lockdown.

Yesterday for the first time I donned a mask and found it claustrophobic.

The string broke too.

I re-tied it on the bus when another passenger who was boring us with his views on everything said “Not much point putting it on now …”

The other major event that occurred at Chateau Tickler over the weekend concerned my garden parasol

It spread its wings in the high winds last Friday afternoon and flew into my neighbour’s garden.

Rather oddly she kept it in a corner of her garden and did not inform me.

I had a vision of Mary Poppins astride it and breaching social distance.

The parasol was on my doorstep today with no comment.

My day finished with a call to my oldest friend D whom I have known 60 years.

He analyses data from the Office of Statistics from which he concluded East Sussex is now one of the safest areas.

He is an internet entrepreneur specialising in travel sites and castigated the quarantine policy on the basis that the traveller may well take public transport to the isolation point.

It seems another example of heavy-handed locking of the stable door once the horse has bolted.

We finished on a happy note that this month we may well be allowed to resume our lunches in the garden of a favourite country pub.

Another friend called to leave a message that he leads an active life too and after 10 weeks of lockdown wants to resume it.

This must  be a universal sentiment.