Hello friends, I hope this email finds you fit and well?
So, 2021 is shaping up to be another year of lockdowns and covid dodging. Before Christmas, Rhona was placed on paid leave (furlough) again, and what little driving work that I had arranged evaporated.
Once more we were, like the rest of the country, told to remain indoors, only allowed to venture out for food, medicine, work and an hour of exercise within the confines of our village. I immediately jumped online and began to book supermarket delivery slots, most of which had gone. Eventually, I found some availability and placed a few orders. Luckily we had already bought all of the food and supplies that we needed for our Christmas celebrations, so it was only a regular shop that was required.
Christmas was quiet. We had fun.
With our food supply sorted, I began to think long and hard about whether or not I would be leaving the house at all. I'm in my fifties and overweight. By all accounts, I am at a much higher risk of complications if I contracted the virus than most fit and healthy people. I discussed with my wife about how we could stay safe under the new lockdown. Even though we would be on reduced earnings, we found a way to pay the bills. For years we have taken a spend less approach to our finances. We might not control how much things cost, but we can choose to spend less and only purchase the things we need.
By not having to drive anywhere we have saved on the cost of petrol. We occasionally pay more for special delivery and collection services, but these are offset by the savings we make in other areas. Our utility bills are higher than usual, but that is relatively normal for winter in our home, although, we are on hyper-flexible (Agile Octopus) 100% green energy tariffs. We continue to help Karta with his homeschooling and are very aware that we need to look after his mental and physical health, so we're not putting too much pressure on him. He gets up out of bed when he's ready, takes a shower, gets dressed, has breakfast and then cracks on with an hour or two of learning. He spends time online with his friends every day, so he is not entirely isolated.
2021 is supposed to be a year filled with adventures. Late last year I began to plan a road trip to the top of Europe, a journey that will take us to Nordkapp in Norway. The plan is to be above the arctic circle to see the midnight sun on the longest day of the year. The drive will take four to five days each way by my reckoning and cover some 4000 kilometres. Unfortunately, the second wave of mutant coronavirus may well stop the trip and a lack of funds due to lower earnings. I'm not entirely discounting the expedition, but I know it will be harder to pull off if I don't start to book accommodation and ferries soon.
It was very nice to see Donald Trump leave the White House. He talked of ending the 'American Carnage', but I would say that he caused more damage to the United States than he fixed. Over 400,000 Americans have died since the pandemic began, that figure would have been a lot lower if Trump had listened to the scientists and acted sooner to mitigate the infection's spread. We passed a grim milestone yesterday here in the UK when over 100,000 Covid related deaths were recorded. You do not need to be a genius to see that our government's mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic has wrecked the lives of tens of thousands of families in Britain. The politicians should stay out of our scientists' way and let them guide the health of our nation onto a better trajectory.
Britain has finally left the European Union. We can see the effects of a lousy deal already. Journalists cannot simply turn up in a European country and report on events, they have to go through a lengthy procedure to obtain a working visa. Freight movements in and out of the country have slowed considerably, with ferry operators reporting less traffic on the main routes to and from the continent. I have seen and read reports that fishers, who voted to leave the EU, are now seeing the error of their ways, unable to export their catches or access fishing waters as easily. I hate to say “I told you so”, but…
So, my days are currently filled with writing, reading and watching movies. I am glad to see the days are starting to get a little longer, and flower bulbs are beginning to sprout in the garden. I'm trying to germinate a handful of Giant Sequoia seeds to grow them in pots before starting them off as Bonsai. My Japanese Maple trees need to be re-potted and pruned, and I will cultivate some berry plants for eating in the summer. I'm going to give tomatoes a miss this year.
There is a lot more that I can talk about, but I will leave that for another email. So, please stay safe and look after each other. There is too much division in the world, and we must strive to heal ourselves and our planet. Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I appreciate it.
If submariners can stay safe and out of view for weeks at a time, so can I!
Seal the hatches, dive dive dive!