Expect some fireworks today; despite BoJo and his Merry Men choosing this very day as the start of Lockdown 2. How mean spirited is that? All those bonfires and firework displays that have been planned for ages and paid for, now under threat. Standing outside on a beautiful cold November night surely can’t pose too much danger from Covid? I fancy a lot might go ahead anyway.
Somewhat belatedly (I’ve been on the road for a few days) let me report back on the Rotary puzzle mentioned in 156. My dilemma was somewhat pre-empted with the news that upon further investigation the Committee realised that half the planned project was way beyond our means and had therefore been abandoned. Phew! However, I did stick my head above the parapet and ask a few salient (I hope) questions, mainly relating to the fact that the Plan still involves raising £400,000 by October 2022 to help fund homes for the homeless in Eastbourne. It’s an admirable but daunting task. It looks like my broadcasting skills might now be required to make a promotional video.
I was in Bath a couple of days ago. There can be few more beautiful cities on earth on a bright, frost coated November morning, the classic Roman and Georgian silhouettes rising out of the surrounding carpet of frozen white ground, highlighted by the brilliant colours of autumn. The Georgian City still boasts a significant number of privately owned shops, but the number of empty premises seems to grow almost daily, thanks to Covid and Lockdowns. One of the City’s most prestigious is Rossiters, a general trading emporium where you can buy anything from an exquisite double bed to a fancy mug or finely tooled leather bound diary. It was obvious that they had only recently re-stocked in preparation for Christmas. The shelves were groaning with upmarket Christmas tree decorations and a surfeit of “wow I wouldn’t have thought of that” presents. The greatly dispirited checkout lady confirmed that they would be shutdown by Lockdown 2. As I suspected, she also confirmed that somewhere between eighty and ninety per cent of their annual turnover is taken in November and December. It really brought it home to me just how ruinous this policy is. I can’t help thinking we are on very dangerous ground.
Meanwhile congratulations are due to Rafa Nadal who has won his 1,000th tournament tennis match, joining Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Roger Federer as the only men to have achieved that milestone. According to a European Tour tweet he is also a scratch golfer, although the accompanying video of his swing looks more like an 18 handicapper. His pre-shot routine mimics his pre-serve calisthenics, with a hitch of the trousers, a bum scratch, a tweak of the sleeves, adjust the glove, touch the lips, give the peak of the cap a little shake, before addressing the ball with a few more twitches and then a lurch back and forth that is highly reminiscent of so many occupants of driving range bays on a wet Saturday afternoon. It’s not unlike a Catherine Wheel spinning into action….hopefully the end result isn’t a damp squib.
ADayInTheStrifeOf 