Winter Picnic

The current coronavirus restrictions mean that we are only allowed to meet people outdoors, so we arranged to meet three friends for a lunchtime picnic in the park. We originally planned it for tomorrow, but the forecast was for rain all day, while today was supposed to be dry, so we rearranged. Yes, it rained. It did at least stop by the time we got to the park, but the picnic benches were very wet. After eating our lunch either standing or sitting, according to how brave or well-protected we were feeling, we went for a walk through town and along the riverside walk and canal tow path. Despite the weather, it was good to see people we don't live with (much as we love our family). I am now finding that the isolation is beginning to get to me. I am the only person in the household who doesn't go to either work or school, and my interaction with colleagues is limited to a 20 minute Teams staff meeting with no video on Monday mornings and occasional emails, with no plans for me to go back to the office any time soon. I know it is going to be a long winter, and suspect that we will be back in lock down again in January, so I am just going to have to deal with it - at least I know now that there is an end in sight, though I don't expect things to improve significantly until the spring. 

Over the past few days I have started to get back into writing and research. A couple of years ago I stumbled across a couple of sisters with local connections who served as ambulance drivers and orderlies in the First World War. The more I found out about them, the more interested I became. Once I began to research in detail I discovered one of the sisters had a lifelong friendship and partnership with another woman who was a very unusual character, and who very conveniently had written a detailed account of her war service. The more I dug, the more I found, and I am now trying to write a book about the three women and their families. I have hardly touched it this year, but I am really hoping I can be more disciplined next year and start to put in the time it needs. I have no idea whether the end result will be publishable, but I would like to finish even if it is just for my own satisfaction. I also have another book to put together, editing some documents for the local record society and writing a commentary. That one I know will be published (unless I make a complete hash of it!), though the market is pretty limited and it is definitely a labour of love, not for money - it is hardly a candidate for the Amazon best seller list! Both have a very long way to go, but I suspect the idea that I will have more time in the future is a mirage, and I should stop using time as an excuse and get on with them. Something to focus on over what looks like being a long, lonely winter can only be a good thing. 

I'm short of photos today, so here is another of my Christmas bauble collection. This one came from one of the Christmas markets in Vienna when we visited last year. Travelling so freely seems hard to imagine now. Once we are eventually able to travel again, it will no longer be as Europeans, it will be as Little Englanders, thanks to Brexit. No European health insurance cards, no fast EU citizen passport queues, restrictions on how long we can stay in European countries, and in another year, the need for a visa to travel to continental Europe. This makes me unutterable sad. So much lost, and so afar as I can see to no benefit. On top of Covid, whatever happens in the current negotiations between our useless government and the EU, we are almost certainly looking at considerable trade disruption in January after the transition period ends on December 31st. I am most worried about the possibility that there may be issues with importing medication, as I am very reliant on an asthma inhaler. Nothing I can do except hope that it doesn't take too long to sort out the initial chaos. The negotiations for a free trade agreement are not going well, with reports that PM Johnson made a hash of a visit to Brussels this week, and there are unpleasant mutterings about using the navy to chase away European fishermen in January if there is no deal. What.a mess.