When Will I See You Again?

I remember the magical day last year when two households were allowed to meet outdoors for the first time.  We drove and Perran and Carenza hired an Uber and we met in Epping Forest.  it was so wonderful to see them, so weird not to be able to hug.   The weather was perfect that day, just as it would be for the reunion scene in a Hollywood Movie.

The Covid roadmap released earlier this week tells us it will be a while before we can see the twins again.  We had the privilege of Pascoe’s company in December. But, unaware we were about to Lockdown in November and then have Christmas ‘cancelled’, we last spent a day with Perran and Carenza in early October. 

I have never had so long apart from them and am looking forward to the day when two households can meet outdoors, even if the only kind of cuddles will be air hugs.

For the picnic I am planning to bake vegan pasties from scratch.  Now if that isn’t taking it seriously, what is?

Standing up for all of us

Today Nigel attended a London magistrates’ court (via Teams videoconferencing), was found guilty of obstructing the highway, given a conditional discharge and asked to pay court expenses of £331.

And I am proud of him.

He was arrested 07-10-2019 while sitting in the road at the junction of Northumberland Avenue and Trafalgar Square.

It was part of an Extinction Rebellion protest.

His defence was ‘Necessity’ - by drawing attention to the Climate Emergency and trying to get the Government to act Nigel was attempting to save lives, both in the immediate future and throughout the years to come.

Representing himself in court, Nigel said:

‘The number of deaths as a result of the climate emergency is going to rise, and rise dramatically. Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England, and now UN climate finance envoy, put it very simply in a statement to the BBC on 6^th February:

"When you look at climate change from a human mortality perspective, it will be the equivalent of a coronavirus crisis every year from the middle of this century, and every year, not just a one-off event. “

Covid is an emergency.  Currently it has caused 100,000 deaths in the UK, and 2.4m globally.  But by the middle of this century, the climate emergency will cause that number of deaths every year.  Every year. 2.4m every year.’

However, even though thousands of people have indeed died since Nigel sat down in the road in October 2019, of the drought, floods and storms caused by climate change, the court did not consider the danger immediate enough and convicted him.

We knew beforehand that this was the probable outcome, but time will prove that it was not the right one.

 

I Believe in Summer

 

In the middle of Winter there are days when it is easier to believe in unicorns than in Summer.

Stricken by icy temperatures and a constant unsatisfactory ‘dandruff’ of snow (as Annabel put it),  we have had to exercise our faith and our imagination.

I put together a necklace from some butterflies which I had enamelled in bright colours.  There WILL come some sunny day when I can wear it above a strappy top.

Nigel has been filtering his elderberry wine.  One day it WILL be one of the ingredients of a ruby-coloured sangria on a warm summer’s evening in the garden.

I guess these things we have made are little pledges to ourselves, signs that we are trying to believe in Summer.

Little Lockdown Project for the Ears

My eyes hurt.

As a teacher, I used to get to spend time focusing on the far-away back of the classroom, trying to guess what the pupils in the back row were looking at under the desk and calculating whether I could sneak up on them before they put it away.

Now all those long-distance moments have been replaced by staring at my screen.

I am worried my bloodshot eyes will scare my pupils.  But luckily the picture’s not crisp enough.

So for my current Lockdown project, I have decided to use my ears.

The birds believe that spring is on its way and are giving three cheers, each in their own way.  I am trying to tune in to the different calls there are out there.  I’ve got the RSPB app on my phone so I can listen to bird song and try to figure out what I’m hearing.

It can be difficult to remember, so the best method for me is to fit words to the call, like the yellowhammer who sings ‘A little bit of bread and no cheese.’

Today’s morsel of learning?

‘It’s me, it’s me, it’s me.’ – coal tit

So if you spot me stopped still in mid-step with a thoughtful look on my face, that is what is going on – I’m listening to a tiny bird!

https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/b/notesonnature/posts/birdsong-masterclass