Whilst admiring the profusion of petals that adorn the line of cherry and almond trees opposite our house I was deafened by the call of a mocking bird. Well actually it was a blue tit (I think, although it may have been a great tit, my bust recognition isn’t that good), but it’s call was so shrill it felt as though it was mocking me. What an extraordinary lung to weight ratio it has. You could hear the repetitive tweeting a hundred yards away. That is lung power the best parade ground sergeant majors would be proud of.
As we all withdraw into our brick and mortar shells, terrified of China’s latest germ warfare, such wonders of nature will no doubt become ever more meaningful and perhaps even interesting. As each day goes by the dreadful impact of this global shutdown becomes increasingly apparent. It seems there will be very few people who won’t be disadvantaged financially, many to a critical stage. There will be some winners too though. Purveyors of essential foodstuffs are laughing all the way to the bank. My local Tesco Express (that always makes me laugh, especially now, when the queues are twice as long) told me they did twice their normal business yesterday. Another little local deli, that’s tucked away in a small parade of shops, is run by an Old Eastbournian and his Polish wife. It’s delightfully old-fashioned with tables outside, groaning under the weight of all sorts of fresh fruit and vegetables that you bag up yourself. It’s small but incredibly well stocked and suddenly they are doing a roaring trade. Rather charmingly, they wish they weren’t as they feel it’s at other people’s expense. I have a feeling though that they, like plenty of others, may find there’s a lasting spin off from this, once Coronavirus is but a distant memory, whenever that might be. I even acquired some much needed loo rolls there yesterday. Back to just reading The Times now.
My wife suggested that the manufacturers of bidets and bathroom hoses should also see a spike in business. I’m amazed the Greens haven’t got onto this much earlier. It’s so much more hygienic and only requires water, which hasn’t exactly been in short supply recently. Imagine how many trees could be saved. Mind you the paper mills would then go out of business, so they would need Government support. There are no easy answers here.
I have just observed a lone magpie in the garden. Another arrow in the sadness chart. Thankfully Callie (the whippet) didn’t see it or she would’ve tried to go through the glass door before we’d opened it. Birds of all descriptions are purely on this earth for her to chase. Despite her Bolt-like speed she has yet to bring one down. That’s all good, clean fun, unlike the fox hunt. Sadly the lovely little furry creatures are back in town in some strength and they really do wind Callie up. It’s only a matter of time……
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