And they say every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a black cloud as we say here in Yorkshire. This little crisis has certainly brought out the best in Mrs Summerhouse. As we drive through the countryside* she’s oohing and ahhing at the little lambs. I’m thinking we could eat them if things go bad.
In the park she’s doing the same for the little robin. I think, well we could eat that, but there’s not a lot of meat on it. Then she spots the snowdrops and says, oh that’s lovely the snowdrops are still alive. I think hmm, we could eat them but we’d have to be pretty desperate. I don’t think even the virus could make me turn vegetarian. There are plenty of squirrels in the park so who knows. But never say never.
Many acts of kindness on the internet. My goal is to look back on this crisis (yes I know that’s a tad on the optimistic side for me, but what the heck), and be proud of how I behaved. So far we have kept our social distance, avoided stock-piling, paid money into our jazz musicians welfare fund and behaved in a supportive manner to our fellow human beings. I’m hoping for more acts to make us feel proud as we go along.
Another plus of this crisis, I’ve finally made it on to social media and acquired a troll. So that must mean I’ve finally made it and yes, in the past I’ve asked for more comments. Here’s one to warm the cockles of one’s heart, from :
You boomers are shutting down the entire economy because you’re afraid of a flu. Seriously, can you boomers kill yourselves? You are the most selfish generation to ever exist. You don’t give a shit about climate change, why should we young people give a shit if you get sick and die of some virus? I HOPE the virus gets much stronger and kills you all.
Well, and a merry Christmas to you too Amanda. I thought of many possible responses but my daughter persuaded me not to respond, she said my suggestions would make me look like a bad person. Shame, maybe next time.
One kind of act of kindness or creativity anyway, was somebody on Facebook suggesting that ice cream vans could be used, chimes and all, to deliver food etc to the elderly. We all come rushing out when we hear the chimes and probably get knocked down, but I like the idea at a broad level. Then below she says this, ‘if you like this idea then share the shit out of it.’ It’s great to know that, even in these times of difficulty, the beauty of the English language is not compromised. It does your heart good.
Meanwhile, more positives on the home front. Because we’ve only got about 2,000 books to read or re-read, I decided we needed more to see us through. So, having read an article in The Guardian about crime writer, Elmore Leonard, I ordered, from Amazon, a 12 book pack of his novels.
The good news being that Amazon (because I refuse to pay for postage) gave me a date in April, that changed to Monday and they arrived on the Sunday. Happy days and I don’t need to feel bad I haven’t bought from a small bookshop (which I do on a fairly regular basis (see below for last two purchases) because they’re shut. This before Amanda trolls me to hope that I die because us boomers don’t care about small businesses.
*We don’t do this any more.
Interesting that us oldies have helped to build this nation/economy and some shit has the temerity to make such comments.
Tell Mrs Summerhouse that nature is high in my list of things to explore and enjoy… rarely had the chance to do so in recent times. Keep safe !
I will certainly pass the message on. And thank you for your kind and accurate thoughts. You also all keep safe.