Lots of Normal

The last week has been the most "normal" for me since March 2020 in terms of outside activities. Last Sunday the brass band I play in performed to a live audience for the first time since Christmas 2019, playing outdoors in the local park. We had a full day of "band camp" the day before, so by the end of the weekend the physical effort was definitely taking its toll - aching stomach muscles, aching back, tired arms and so on. The trombone isn't a lightweight instrument. 

On Monday and Tuesday I was working in the office, and I will now be going in every week. Our public service is still very restricted, so not back to normal in that way, but back to a regular routine. Then on Wednesday there was another band practice (still feeling a bit ouchy!), and on Thursday an orchestra rehearsal - there have been three "live" sessions during July to allow us to get back to playing, but no more for that orchestra now until September. Yesterday I went to another orchestra session during the afternoon - this time for an orchestra which pre-Covid rehearsed on Friday lunchtimes. It is affiliated with a local university and can't meet on the premises, so some of the members have now organised a monthly weekend session in a local community hall as an alternative. M has also been working as normal and TG is still hanging in at school. A couple of local schools have had closed weeks due to Covid cases, and most have had to send students home to self-isolate due to cases, but TG has dodged that particular bullet so far. We are hoping that with only three days left to go she will make it to the end of term. The only "normal" thing that didn't happen last week was her dance classes - a student had tested positive and they decided to close the studios until the end of term, so it was back to Zoom classes. 

We are now into a heatwave, with temperatures up to 31 degrees today. Yesterday morning we walked over to our friends' house - a two mile walk, as they live on the other side of town - for tea / coffee and cake, and took the photo above as we walked through the town centre on the way back. Saturday is market day, with the market looking very tidy since it got these nice new matching stalls not all that long before the pandemic. It is extraordinary to think that a market has been held in this town for the last 1000 years, and has survived plagues far worse than this one. 

 

M bought these roses home from work last night. A local store took a load of food and flowers which had hit its sell-by date round to his office for people to help themselves. It is quite common for organisations to donate items for the benefit of NHS staff - it doesn't make up for their low pay, but it certainly makes them feel appreciated. I often read comments on social media by Americans who are scathing of what they call "socialised" medicine, and realise that they really have no concept of how the British feel about the NHS. We don't see it as a government organisation, we see it as our health service - we own it, we pay for it, and we have an emotional connection to it. Throughout the pandemic signs thanking NHS workers have been everywhere, ranging from kids' drawings to banners put up by large companies, and practical signs of appreciation like yesterday's food and flowers have been a thing since long before the pandemic.