Enjoying lockdown

Blocked off benches

The government has proclaimed that short drives for long walks are permissible, so today, I tested that indulgence. I drove to Rodbridge Park at Sudbury to walk the animals. For me, it was a short drive and a long walk, though clearly "short" and "long" are ill-defined measurements; others may claim it's a long drive and a very short walk!

A notice at the entrance instructed us to "park carefully", and only if we could leave a good gap from others. In the park, there were a good number of walkers, but the open spaces are enough to leave plenty of room as each group manoeuvred round the other. All the benches were taped up to stop us sitting down, which is hard for the oldies who need a rest, even on a short (in this context, I mean long!) walk. I was walking through a heavily wooded area when the phone went; it was one of the agencies updating me on the work position. Happily, the council had not taped off any of the fallen trees, so I could sit comfortably on a massive felled oak for my conversation. The dogs went exploring in the woods, then tried to paddle and swim in a stagnant pond amongst the trees, so I had to keep calling them out. I think the recruiter was more envious than annoyed at me.

A case of wine arrives!

Back at the house, we were totally surprised by an unexpected gift — this time from Edwin and Andre. They sent a dozen bottles of high quality wine to enjoy through the hours of confinement. What a welcome treat. We seem to be getting through rather more wine even than we habitually take. We enjoyed a sample as we await the next guidelines on relaxing the lockdown. At the moment, the messages are of total confusion. Is it to be extended for another three weeks? Or will the hints appearing in the papers of a partial relaxation really occur on Monday? No one seems to know, much less the government. If it's safe on Monday, why not now? Are they waiting for the number of infections or the death rate to fall below some magic number? No one can tell. We are left completely in the dark. Meanwhile, we can enjoy the view from the window of a sunny, warm spring day, with a glass of delicious wine. There are worse ways to suffer from house arrest.

The view from the window