How do you feel about runners? Admittedly they can be a noble bunch and I salute their quest to stay healthy especially right now. But and there is a big BUT here, there are some jerks out there and I had the pleasure of meeting one of them this morning on my 6.30 am dog walk. The paths in our woods are quite narrow which is why I walk so early in the morning being mindful of social distancing. Some runners, however don’t seem the slightest bit interested in social distancing and this morning I ended up in a ditch in my plight to avoid coming too close to the runner in question. Did he think of stopping? slowing down? getting out of my way? moving to the other side of the path? Oh no he was too intent on keeping up his speed and nothing, not even a rather scruffy 60+ lady with a very old dog was going to stop him.
Hello – the word does not care about your run. Do you not realise that drivers only veer away from you to avoid a manslaughter charge, cyclists only get out of your way so they themselves are not flung over their handlebars and us walkers step aside to let you pass to avoid being trampled on. The world does not care about your run. So please don’t behave like an ass.
Not content with isolation I now also have a boiler issue. It is leaking water, making odd noises, and threatening with total shut down. Please please last me until the warmer weather arrives. Plumber visits are out as my underlying conditions means I need to stay in isolation. So, I am existing on a wing and a prayer.
Have you read The Room by Emily Donoghue or seen the movie. Powerful story about a mother and son told through the voice of five year old Jack. The room is his entire world – it is where he was born, grew up and where he has learnt to read, write, play and where he sleeps. Room is home to Jack, but to his mother it is a prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Jack’s playmates are the inanimate objects in the room. They all have names. Clearly, I am not imprisoned but I am developing a relationship with the inanimate objects in my home. Yesterday I had a conversation with the oven. It went something like this:
“What’s that smell, oh dear you poor oven I really do need to clean you. I promise tomorrow I will put aside an hour and get scrubbing. Let me just check if we have any oven cleaner. Oh no all out I will put it on my next Waitrose order – which might just be June 2021. And then it was the spoons turn. Yes, I really did have a conversation with a spoon. And I am only 7 days into self isolation by the end of three months I suspect I am going to have personal relationships with all the objects in the house. I guess the time to start worrying is when they reply!!
My relationship with Izzi the dog needs working on. While in the past she would be excited when it was walk time, now it takes a bit of persuading.
In the words of Michael Conrad from the excellent series Hill Street Blues which is also going to become my sign off:
“Let’s be careful out there.”
Serendipity Me 