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Thursday, June 11, 2020

CASTELLDEFELS LOCKDOWN - Day 88 - Thursday 11th June


The urge not to obey the alarm this morning was quite strong, and for a few rebellious seconds I resisted the urge to get up.  But get up I did and went through the necessary rituals to get me ready for my swim.
     I was slightly late for the 8 am start as I took the car, the weather being inclement or at least threatening to be so, but a free laconversation lesson, ne was waiting for me as previously booked.
     At some point this system is going to break down, probably not the early slots which have been booked by the fanatics (including myself) but at other times, someone is just going to say that they can’t be bothered and simply not turn up.  I wonder what the consequences, if any, there will be for that sort of inconsideration?  I have been able to book the first few days without a problem, but tomorrow I failed to get a place and so my swim will take place at 9 am rather than an hour earlier.  That could actually work to my advantage as people leave before the end of their allotted time, so I could get some extra swimming lengths for my money!
     The end of my swim saw the start of my ‘lesson’ with MLF and we had a generally wide ranging conversation which started off with politics and took in a variety of subject ‘ere it came to an end.  He has asked if he can have ‘lessons’ once a week for a month or so and I have agreed.
     One piece of information from our chat emerged so that I now realise that I was taught how to play padel by his son!  It’s a small world, and other clichés of that sort!

Today has been a tiring day.  We haven’t done that much apart from some superficial tidying up of the garden and putting out the organic rubbish to be collected on Friday morning.  We need some sand and some compost, but we simply didn’t feel like making the effort to go out on one of our trips into the wider world to get it.

The Thursday NT Live production was a filmed version of the Nottingham Playhouse production of The Madness of King George the Third with Gattis in the title role.  It was thoroughly and guiltily enjoyable.
     It was the sort of episodic theatrical production with an efficient set and snappy scene changes that made you long to be part of the audience.  Bennet’s writing was pithy and engrossing and Gattis commanded the stage with a physical and emotional performance.
     Although set, obviously, in the time of George III, there were constant links to modern politics and up to the moment concerns; the play spoke to an audience in 2020 as age old themes and tropes bumped into any complacent historical restrictions.
     I now want to see the film, that I am ashamed to admit that I still have not seen, in spite of specific and pointed recommendations.  I wonder if it is on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Where have the comments on Covid gone?  What mention have I made of the virus and its changes.  What of the statistics?  It seems, more and more to be like ‘yesterday’s news’ something you read about (if you can be bothered) not something that makes a real difference in your life.
     Yes, I wear my mask when I go out, and it is mandatory if you are in a situation where you cannot guarantee physical distancing, but for exercise masks are not necessary and have been largely dispensed with.
     Something that has concentrated my mind is that The Family might pay us a visit on Saturday.  I don’t know the exact composition of The Family, but my first reaction was one of lazy panic.  What are the exact rules for meeting members from another household?  Where do you meet them?  Saturday is Toni’s Name Day and a gathering of the clan would not be inappropriate, especially as Toni has seen no member of his family for almost two months.
     Something to concentrate the mind!

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