The Coronavirus Diaries, 25th July 2022, Masked Up

It feels as though the net is drawing tighter and it’s only a matter of time until I am caught in it. Almost every day I hear of someone new who I know catching COVID. All have been vaccinated, all have escaped the virus until now. I am in a group of diminishing size. So I’m back in masks, still opening windows and sitting beside them where possible when I am on the bus, restricting my social life, washing my hands, trying to keep my distance and mainly seeing people outside, which is not hard at this time of year.

Next week, should trains and planes allow, I shall be off to NI for a fortnight, and I really don’t COVID to put a stop to that or to strike me down while I am there. Octavia was telling me of her friend Loris who has flown in from Australia, but far from enjoying a holiday she is laid up in bed feeling dreadful. Allegra went to the US to attend a family wedding. A good friend who accompanied her for the relaxing break they intended to enjoy afterwards, has also tested positive and is very unwell. Jimmy returned from a festival in Croatia , and, well you have probably guessed the rest. My neighbours across the landing succumbed last week. Celia tested positive at the weekend. Mary, who I work with tested positive yesterday.

On the plus side, the weather is cooler with a breeze. It has tried and failed to rain. A few drops squeezed out of the clouds and it’s all over. I’d love to wake up tonight to hear rain pattering on the windows. Not a downpour, not a storm, just a decent shower, followed by another decent shower tomorrow night, and another each night after that until the green has come back and the land feels refreshed. Not that there seems to have been a lack of rain in Northern Ireland. The temperatures are around 10C less than here which will be a bit of a shock. Perfect weather for walking dogs though and I am hoping Poppy has not piled on the pounds since I was last there. I’m starting to feel quite excited

One good thing (from my point of view) about my neighbours having COVID is that they should be hale and well to look after MasterB while I am away. If they are recovered but their energy levels are still depressed, some evenings with the boy on the sofa should be beneficial all round. With luck Celia will be testing negative before I leave so we can have a bit of a catch up then. She’s messaged saying she feels washed out but that Mr Celia is still testing negative.

Meanwhile the Tory leader race trundles on becoming both more surreal and more depressing by the minute. For reasons so bonkers they defy logic the Tory faithful appear to favour Liz Truss. Andrew Rawnsley wrote an incisive piece about her in the Observer yesterday (read it here), and I although Rory Bremner’s tweet “Vote Liz, get Rees Mogg, Dorries, Patel, Braverman. Vote Liz! The change candidate! Now with added Steve Baker” made me laugh it is too true for comfort. The Mail appears to be attacking Sunak, so that I imagine translates as supporting Truss as well. Heaven help us, as I seem to be saying on an increasingly regular basis.

At least I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and Dead Ringers are back on Radio 4. Maybe the heavens are helping us to get through this mire with satire. Especially as Graeme Garden is back after what seemed like a very long absence, though as Tim Brooke-Taylor died of COVID in 2020 his absence will evident. Also Barry Cryer who died earlier this year. Somehow I thought Barry would never die. His energy and enthusiasm for life seemed unquenchable.

Stay safe. Keep well.

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