Now that we are in tier two it means I can resume my regular Thursday morning tennis sessions. Yesterday woke up to drizzle and wondered whether we would be able to make it to Eaton Park to play tennis.
We have a group of up to 10 players and numbers seem to vary anything between two and eight. Today in the inclement weather, four of us turned up. The courts either side of us were booked but nobody showed. So we had them to ourselves.
I felt surprisingly fit after the long lay-off. That must have been down to all the walking during lockdown two. As you know I was aiming to walk 100 miles. My final total distance was actually 127.5 miles - so I was pleased with that.
Realised as the morning progressed how much I had missed playing tennis. It's only when you lose something that you miss it. Hopefully we will have a decent run through now. People often say how can you play tennis when it's so cold? The point is once you start running around you don't notice the cold. I would much rather play in five degrees than in 25!
I have to say once again that I fail to see why tennis was banned during lockdown. It's a fantastic way to keep fit and very easy to stay socially distanced - as is golf.
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I promised that I would include the poster from Norfolk County Council aimed at helping people struggling through the virus. You can see this at the top of the page.
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Yesterday I was asked what I felt the difference between this Christmas and last would be. Obviously there are obvious differences brought about by the tier system but I wanted to come up with something a bit more subtle.
So, after thinking for a short while, I came up with the following.
Usually Christmas comes to us. This year we have had to go to Christmas.
Christmas coming to us just means that it sneaks up on us almost unawares. Shops with less than subtlety put up their Christmas displays and start selling Christmas gifts in October while we all tut and say "that's too early for Christmas." Then we get into the swing of things with outings, parties, visits and all the other trappings and before we know it we are midway through December and panicking because we haven't started our Christmas shopping and haven't sent out any cards or put up decorations. Then there's the hectic last few days as we scuttle round, get exhausted and then breath a huge sigh of relief when we can pass out in front of the turkey (sorry tele).
But this year, shops are only just re-opening, events have been called off and we have had time for reflection. So instead of Christmas coming to us we have moved towards it. Here in Hethersett, and I'm sure it is happening all over the country, people have been taking the initiative and moving towards Christmas with some wonderful fun initiatives such as bauble and advent window trails. I include a couple of pictures of the first two days of the advent windows. The bauble trail kicks off today.