This day, that day, Saturday

Have you lost track of time? Lots of people have but it doesn’t matter because time always behaves strangely. Think of all the things you didn’t do before; when you didn’t have time. I bet you still aren’t doing them now. Right now, you are hoping for things to go back to normal but as soon as they do, you will wonder where all that time went. You will kick yourself for not reading that book, or writing the novel, or decorating the front room but you shouldn’t because we all do what we need to.

Actually, maybe those people who think they need to troll journalists on Twitter don’t need to do that. Maybe the people writing angry notes or slashing doctors tyres because they believe they are breaking the ‘going out’ rules don’t need to do that. Maybe the police don’t need to look in people’s shopping bags to see if they have bought ‘unnecessary items.’ And maybe everyone doesn’t need to remember that they own a Karcher pressure washer.

BCV (before corona virus) I used to lie in bed on a Saturday morning and read my book. I would know it was time to get up when we heard my neighbour’s lawn mower start up. Every Saturday at 9.30 we would hear the familiar chug and splutter and the Long Suffering Husband would turn to me and say, “It’s Saturday morning,” as if I didn’t know. The It is too early at the moment to know if my neighbour’s BCV routine is going to be the same as his HCV (hoc Corona virus) routine. I suspect that when this is all over (ACV - ante corona virus) any changes will be reversed very quickly for everyone.

As we settle into our new, temporary, lives, with daily death tolls and threats from unseen forces we must remember to be kind. Not the fake hashtag that was trending from the angry keyboard warriors following a celebrity’s recent suicide but to be kind to yourself. It doesn’t matter if you don’t write a great work of fiction, read Hilary Mantel’s latest work (although as I’m 100 pages in I can thoroughly recommend it), do something creative, get fit, or clap for the NHS every Thursday. You are enough.

It is a very big book (I wonder what is in my exclusive edition?)

It’s going to be a beautiful Saturday. Give yourself some time off from what you ‘should’ do. Do what you want and if what you want is to continue with your routines and cut your grass at 9.30 then that’s fine too. I will be reading my book until then.