A Good Day

a-year-ago-today.htmlVery warm today, sunny, blue sky, it's the start of the predicted heatwave, obviously, and long may it continue.

A letter to me from the Department of Health and Social Care, dropped on to the front door mat this morning signed by Matt Hancock, the Health Minister and Robert Jenrick the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government - the man, incidentally, who is presently accused of a suspicious manoeuvre involving millions of pounds; don't know the details but nothing new there as when ever there is a government minister involved in a scandal involving money we never get all the details.  Apparently, Boris has said, "The matter is closed," so like the Dominic Cummings incident, a few weeks ago, we won't be getting the truth.

Anyway, the Right Honourable Minister, Mr Jenrick,  tells me, (again) I am clinically extremely vulnerable due to COVID-19 But the shielding advice I had been given (stay indoors, avoid non essential face to face contact) is changing because the chances of meeting someone with the virus has considerably reduced, so the shielding is to be relaxed, and from August 1st there will be no need to shield at all. I think they are rushing it, and we may come to regret this hurry to get back to making money. But what do I know?

Mr Jenrick didn't mention, in his letter, the trouble he was presently experiencing.

It is such a beautiful day I put the bike batteries on charge and when  Cyril emerged suggested we go for a ride today. He agreed straight away. We took our usual route down to Dormansland ("Posh-land.") and took a different course to last time. Along the footpath by the side of the railway. It is straight but narrow in parts and up and down. A problem occurred when we reached the bridge just before Dormans Station. There are steep steps up to the road and getting the bikes up them proved to be quite a challenge. We managed it in the end and rested on one of the seats on the platform. The tannoy came on every few minutes telling passengers, (there weren't any) to observe the two metre rule and wear face covering - now the law on all public transport. We watched a couple of trains come through and then made our way back through Dormansland Park. At one point, on a hill, I stopped and couldn't get going again, tried a couple of times, but the electric motor didn't engage, so, no momentum, no balance.  I fell off. C circled back, tutted and helped me up. No injuries, except to my pride, and we made our way back to the entrance to the wood, meeting on the way a fellow cyclist, and resident of Dormanland who had self-built his 4 bedroomed house and was an ex Gatwick worker. He is expecting delivery tomorrow, he told us, of an electric scooter, an item I am interested in having myself.

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