Lockdown Diary - Thursday 13th May 2021

Another day started with a walk. The weather was threatening, but not much rain fell during my walk.  If I manage to walk tomorrow morning as well I should hit my weekly target for the first time in an eternity.  I am finding walking in the morning useful as it lets me be alone with my thoughts without the clamour of other people's demands on me.  I guess it must be doing my some good physically, if not so much mentally. I haven't quite worked out if being alone with my thoughts is a good thing - it certainly isn't for some of them. The only thing you can't escape from: yourself.

The cleaner is here - and this may come as a surprise - cleaning, I am settled in for a series of back-to-back Microsoft Teams calls which should test my powers of concentration.

So, here we go, descending into work mode, hopefully emerging some time later (it is Idler drinks night after all).

Keeping track of a delivery due today which has been on a long journey. Hopefully it will be good.

Work!

Work ends and it's time for the Idler drinks with tonight's speaker being Colin Tudge who is an expert on 'enlightened agriculture'.  A chaotic start to the meeting for me as - despite a lot of forward planning on my part - ordering a takeaway proves to be very disorganised.

Great conversation with Colin Tudge, who proposes a fairly radical shift in not just agriculture, but society as a whole with a view to averting ecological catastrophe and improving the lives of everyone.  The title of his new book 'The Great Rethink: A 21st Century Renaissance', gives a clue to the scope of change he's promoting. It's very interesting but hard to imagine how it will come about as it requires such a radical change in the way people think and act, as well as in their expectations.

The Chinese takeaway arrives just after 7 p.m. and so I have to leave the after talk chat rather early, which is a shame, though the food is good.  Three of us watch an episode of HIGNFY as son #2 is participating in a virtual takeaway get together with his work colleagues (which was the original impetus for the takeaway).  Son #3 is planning to watch a film virtually with his gf post meal, so he wants to escape as soon as possible.  This is a taste of things to come. Better get myself sorted too.

After that, bed, sleep/oblivion.

A Girl Called Eddy / 'The Long Goodbye' / 'A Girl Called Eddy'

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