These are what we journos call "stock pictures" because they are useful to drag out to illustrate stories/blogs etc in the future. My problem is I have a disorganised mind. So when I come to need one of the images I guarantee I won't be able to find it.
I have what I call a butterfly mind where my thoughts drift from one thing to the next with no order to them. One minute I will be thinking about writing this blog and the next I will be thinking about football or art or lunch or tomorrow or next week. I'm sure some of my readers know exactly what I'm talking about. It's probably the opposite of somebody who stays in the so called zone and concentrates on the here and now.
You see I'm doing exactly that now as I've totally moved away from what I was talking about. So back to the photographs and the reasons that I took them.
You never know when things in the village will change and so it's good to have a record of how things are in January 2021.
On the walk we had a quick socially distanced chat with a number of people. It's always good to see friends because the street is just about the only place that is possible at the moment.
One friend agreed entirely with my comments about the BBC drama Casualty and how inappropriate it was to use the pandemic for Saturday night entertainment, although I would suggest that entertainment is certainly not the correct word for Casualty. I feel a new category should be introduced "depressive series drama." That's where you settle down to forget the virus for a few hours, snuggle up under a blanket in your PJs to watch something light-hearted and entertaining that will take your mind away from the woes of the world for an hour or so only to get even more depressed by what is unfolding on that big box in the corner!
I have to say I avoided last night's episode but was disheartened to see that it was only the second in a run of 30. That means we will be stuck with it on Saturday evenings until the summer. Of course, to bring reality, every episode will have to be about or dominated by the virus. Anything else would just make us think that the pandemic was over and hospitals were back to normal. Problem is if it goes that way it will become incredibly boring and I have already seen a synopsis of future episodes which, indeed, do suggest that the pandemic is over.
As for Charlie Fairhead - well Derek Thompson has been playing this character for an astonishing 34 years. He is now 72 so should have been pensioned off a few years ago. That way he could have come back as a volunteer to give people the vaccine.
In real life Derek suffers from Dystonia which would account for some of his jerky body movements (anyone who watches the show will know what I mean).
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When the year turned, we berated 2020 with words such as "good riddance" and "glad to see the back of that" and things slightly less polite.
So far 2021 has been worse. Last year we at least had January and February COVID free. This year it's been with us from the start and doesn't look like going away anytime soon. Let's hope that we won't be saying the same thing come this Christmas.