The rain is not stopping. France in lockdown. How long should books and films be?

As if being in tier 3 of the lockdown system was not enough, we are told by the weathermen that we are on the edge of a yellow alert area for heavy rain. What’s that saying? Ah, yes! It never rains but it pours.

I exaggerate of course. In fact I went for a run this morning and barely got rained on at all, confirming my theory that the early part of the day is often the best. 

Since then, naturally, it has rained rather heavily. We are monitoring the situation, hoping to find a moment when it eases sufficiently to make it worth while putting on our raincoats and going out for a walk.

Monitoring the wider European situation I found this:

“French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a second national lockdown until at least the end of November.

Mr Macron said that under the new measures, starting on Friday, people would only be allowed to leave home for essential work or medical reasons.

Non-essential businesses, such as restaurants and bars, will close, but schools and factories will remain open.

Covid daily deaths in France are at the highest level since April. On Tuesday, 33,000 new cases were confirmed.

Mr Macron said the country risked being "overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first".

Meanwhile, Germany will impose an emergency lockdown that is less severe but includes the closure of restaurants, gyms and theatres.”

There we go! Will the UK follow suit at some time in the future? We shall see.

I read something about books and films getting longer. As regards books one explanation is the kindle. One  of the things putting people off reading long book was having to carry a huge tome around with you. Those were the days; our son would juggle his holiday luggage, weighing up how little clothing he could get away with so that there was room for more books. (His father still does that with chess books, by the way!) He never reached the extremes of someone I used to work with. He travelled with a very small rucksack -hand luggage only before it was the fashionable thing to do - containing a change of socks, underpants and t-shirt, all of which he washed every couple of days while away on holiday. I never asked about the trousers or shorts! He took no books. And he did not own a kindle. How do people go on holiday and not read? But then, how do so many people go through their everyday lives without reading? I am baffled! 

I never quite understood the mania for making films last only for 90 minutes (or under) as if that was a magical length that did not strain anyones’s tolerance level for sitting still - or their bladder capacity! Some stories simply need more time to do them justice! 

But now films, like books, are getting longer again. Which is odd since making films in this new regime of social distancing must be quite problematical. Even podcasts are getting longer, or so I am told. So it  goes!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!