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!
