Extracts from my lockdown journal

Friday 18th December 2020

7.51am

Almost the longest day of the year.

It’s still dark this morning as I write in my journal.

Both bedside lamps are switched on. 

I can hear the wind buffering the trees,

I hear the Canada geese honking noisily as they fly over.

I hear the clock “tick tock” and 

I hear the water gushing through the pipes as Philip fills the kettle (usually to the brim) for the first cup of tea of the day.

I can see the twinkle of lights from the farmhouses on the other side of the valley.

I see the red brake lights of a car wending it’s way through the country lanes.  Then as it reaches the top, turns left and heads down hill towards the main roads I see the beam of it’s headlights. 

Off he/she goes to work.  Oh there goes another.

Can’t see the sheep in the fields yet though.

8.03am

It’s becoming lighter by the minute.

8.07am

Almost full daylight. 

Here comes Philip with a steaming cup of tea.

We share a bit of daft chat, a chuckle and a kiss.

Then off he goes to watch breakfast telly and the latest doom and gloom.

Meanwhile I’ll stay here a while longer propped up in bed, watching the day unfold from my bedroom window.

I’m deciding which book to start tonight after finishing Dawn French’s latest “Because of You”.  It won’t be staying on my bookshelf to be treasured or read again.  To many anomalies in it, even though the idea of the plot was quite good.

I’ll check my emails and social media, might even do a crossword or dip into the new issue of Reclaim magazine before a shower and my daily Pilates exercise routine.

8.18am

Almost there with full daylight now and I’ve spotted a few sheep laying next to a dry stone wall.

I can hear the drip of water in the bathroom.

And the scratch of my pencil across the page of my journal .

Way below our house there’s the rumble of cars as folk head off to school and work.

How lucky am I not to have to anymore.

Extracts from my lockdown Diary

2020