Social-Distancing: Week 1

Riding on the wave of the coronavirus hype I was definitely a bit over-ambition thinking I could do a daily blog.

The best thing I did since I last blogged was get going on my bike again.  After my fake knee installation and my broken leg (falling out of a train) my bike has been neglected.  Here I am on the canal with Vicky, my PT and friend, ready to pluck me out of the water if it all went wrong. It didn’t!  It was spectacular in spite of the limb casualties.

After endless family conferences – (we are getting very good at Zoom, Hangouts and Whatsapp and even Skype and face time serve a purpose) it was decided that I would join Amy and family in Dumfries and socially isolate from my own little cottage.  Well, not exactly “my own” but I am feeling quite proprietorial about it.

I had to invite the cat to come with me.  Honestly, how many times can a cat meow?   We left at 3.40 a.m and arrived at 10.50 and he meowed every two seconds for five of those hours.  When he wasn’t meowing I thought he was dead, so I would nudge the cat holder and off he went again to reassure me that he was alive and meowing.  I make that 18,000 meows.  Boris hadn’t told us not to run away from London by Thursday, so I’m sorry Dumfries, I didn’t think I was being selfish.

Two amazing facts:

• Young friend in Naples has a remote-control dog. Do I believe him? Is this to get around the rules of going outside? He said, “Walking around the city was incredibly surreal.” Really? You don’t say!!
• A teenage girl with a bunch of daffodils banged on my door and offered her services as my shopper and whatever else I wanted. What a sweet little darling.

As I become increasingly solitary and internalised forgive me for sharing last week’s thought theme: IDENTITY – it is all about identity in my head.  Why?

1. I am reading "The Cut Out Girl" by Bart Van Es."Lien can keep her own name and her surname, de Jong, but she must not say anything about Mamma or Pappa or family.  She is not be Jewish now, just a normal girl from Rotterdam whose parents have been killed in the bombing."
2. I'm mentoring a Second Year Psychology student at London Metropolitan University.  She sent me her review of a paper about how self-identity affects behavours and how the identity can change during life.  This is all in relation to offending behaviours.  Wow!  I would love to be doing that course!
3. Finally, my sister's book - as yet unpublished and untitled - A British girl falls in love with a Mexican culture and the book describes the painful steps of questioning her given identity and trying to adopt another one.

Miss these little munchkins!