Lockdown Diary - Monday 23rd November 2020

Quiet start to Monday without either guided meditation (Wednesday evening this week) or yoga (still too much pain in hip(hop)/back).

I feel a bit lost without these anchors, further amplified by the prevailing state of mind. There are lots of things I need to get done, things to occupy my time and, if only briefly, engage my mind but none of this is satisfying or capable of capturing my imagination or of firing up my brain.

First on my list of things I must do is to arrange transport to hospital for my wife. It has to be done in advance and can only be done via the GP surgery.  There's a whole load of information that must be passed in order that the people doing the transport are prepared for what they will find on arrival here.  Originally I was told they need five days notice by the surgery, but today I'm told they need only three. This means I now have to trust them to make the arrangements and the only way I'll know it's been done is that I'll get a text with a booking reference. All of this is further complicated by covid, but I'll not bore you with the details.

One job down.

The remainder of the morning was spent reading the rest of The Observer.

Another major exercise of the day is to round up and take all three sons to the dentist for their hygienist appointments this afternoon. This is going to involve several car journeys: first, take sons 1 and 2 to the dentist and drop them off; then pick up son #3 from his uni flats; drop him off then take son #2 home to get back to work; after which I'll return and wait for son #3 to be finished and then take him back to uni, with the final journey being me returning home with son #1 via the petrol station to refuel the car.

The designated hour arrives and off we go for my local driving odyssey. On arrival at the dentist the first change of plan occurs: only one of my sons can go in at a time, so when son #2 goes in, son #1 has to accompany me to pick up son #3.  Ideally we'll go there and back before son #2 comes out as son #1 is due in next.  Given son #3 is elsewhere we all wear masks whilst he is with us, as does he, though he is fit and well as is everyone in his flat.  A few minutes after returning to the dentist, son #2 emerges and son #1 waits outside.  We then return son #2 home so he can make lunch and return to work.  A quick drop off and seat change and we're on our way back to the dentist.  I had expected to spend a lot of time alone, sat in the car, and brought things to read, though in the end I didn't get a chance - I was either talking or driving, mostly the latter.  Son #1 emerges and son #3 goes and waits outside to be called in.  We spent something like 35 minutes sat in the car waiting for son #3 to emerge and when he does it's off back to his uni flats and then home via the petrol station, which unexpectedly turns out to use the busiest road in the town, bar none.

We return to a very late lunch and I decide to tackle the next lesson in my Tarot course, which is about the trump cards.

I'm still not managing to find enough focus to read the book club novel or listen to music, so a period of time evaporates again.

Son #2 and I start preparing dinner and once it's under way I start tidying up in the kitchen, made easier because son #1 has already emptied the dishwasher.

As we've just finished 'The Queen's Gambit', it's time for something new. Son #2 suggests the new Nick Frost / Simon Pegg comedy series 'Truth Seekers', which I'm happy to agree to rather than be the one to decide. He did suggest 'The Crown', which I think he was joking about, but in case he wasn't, I did say 'not before hell freezes over' or words to that effect.

The end. Almost.

The Jam have appeared twice over the past week or so - once during 'The Gentleman' and on the radio as we drove home this evening. Of the two songs I've heard I decided to go for 'That's Entertainment' from the album 'Sound Affects' - probably favourite album of theirs.

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