Strange times. A result. Business as usual.

2020 continues to be a very strange year. Here’s a headline from an Ayrshire newspaper:-

South Ayrshire Golf club owner loses 2020 presidential election

Donald Trump, a South Ayrshire golf club owner has lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, after running again to be re-elected for a second presidential term.

They must have been waiting for the chance to have a headline like that for ages. Mind you, maybe every one of Mr Trump”s exploits has been reported in similar fashion in that newspaper. 

And in a small place in India where Kamala Harris’s forebears hailed from they apparently celebrated her victory. 

Is this sort of thing what they mean when they talk about world wide repercussions?

So, anyway, Mr Biden has finally gathered together the necessary electoral college votes to be able to say he has won the election. Not that the incumbent is going quietly by the look of things. I was reading about how much money it would cost if he and his support team were to mount a real campaign for a national recount, which they reckon will probably not happen after all. Really the only winners would be the lawyers.

But still, in the time between now and Joe Biden’s inauguration POTUS Trump can still cause a fair bit of havoc and make things difficult for his successor. Let’s hope he can be persuaded to go quietly. From the voting numbers I think that any new president would have a hard enough time ahead of him.

We had stopped watching the news yesterday and gone for a walk up Lark Hill in the sunshine and so we only found out about the result quite late in the afternoon. So now all that excitement is over for the time being.

The bright, cold, sunny weather seems to be over as well for a while. When we walked up Lark Hill yesterday, from the top you could see the low cloud gradually filling up the valleys. And this morning we are back to dull and grey, not actually raining but with the threat there in the background.

And the Covid levels in Greater Manchester, but especially in Oldham, remain frighteningly high. So I guess we’ll just carry on doing what we’ve been doing for the last few months - local shopping, lots of walks, and electronic communication with friends and family.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!