Thick rain. Chatting. Dogs’ fashion. China and Covid. Being out of touch.

 I listened to rain on the skylights again this morning and seriously considered just turning over and sleeping a bit longer. In the end I decided to be strong. The rain had eased and so I set off to run. My weather app said that drizzle and sleet were likely to start within the hour. Mostly I avoided the drizzle but I did have some minutes of what I think of as “thick rain” - not proper sleet but thicker than normal drizzly rain.

On the way back I had a chat with a small girl called Amelia Lynne. She greeted me as if I were an old friend. It turned out that her family saw me run past their house most days and so, as far as she was concerned she “knew” me. 

Their dog wore a rather fancy Christmas jumper. My daughter has sent us a photo of her dog in a “coat”, not a Christmas jumper but I fully expect there will be one closer to the day. She claims she is not just giving in to fashion pressure. Her justification for the coat is that her dog is a rescue dog from Syria and so is not used to cold climates! Really? He was born in Syria to a rescue dog and was flown here as a puppy! 

On the World at One on the radio they have been discussing China, among other things. “This virus is not done with us yet!” So said an expert on the radio, as part of the report on China where they are finally lifting some of the Covid restrictions. Someone else pointed out that China’s isolation has increased as a result of Covid and the strict zero-Covid policy. Fewer Chinese students come to study in Europe. Fewer foreign students go to study or work in China. And this leads to greater suspicion. The less you know about other people, the more suspicious you are of them. And the one of the best ways to get to know each other is for our young people to go and love and work in other countries.

The same applies to us and Europe of course. 

We are going backwards into a world where the nations are more isolated instead of more integrated! A host of wasted opportunities! The politicians meeting will not make up for ordinary folk having no experience of other cultures. 

Then, of course, there are the conspiracy believers. Here’s a report of parents in New Zealand who are more than reluctant for their baby to have urgently needed surgery because they are afraid that the blood he would be given could come from people who have been vaccinated against Covid. How can you risk your baby’s life in that way? 

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In an article on something entirely unrelated to them I saw a photo of Rishi and Mrs Sunak, holding and “admiring” items, presumably at a Christmas fair or Christmas markets somewhere or other. The caption read: “ ‘Smile, darling, smile. Poor people have made things and are showing them to us.’ ‘Why?’ “ Just a little comment on how separate are the lives of the prosperous.

Here’s an interesting response to the “Where are your really from?” controversy:

“Her sin, if there was one, was being old,” writes the journalist and family friend Petronella Wyatt in the Spectator. “Most pensioners are unfamiliar with the wonders of woke etiquette.” 

 I wonder if Petronella also lives a life out of touch with us ordinary folk. Most of my pensioner friends and I are perfectly familiar with “woke etiquette”.

Hey, ho! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!