We had a rather gloomy 2019 until a wonderful
election result resolved our EU problem in December. I felt we deserved sunlit
uplands in 2020 but suddenly we are beset by the coronavirus epidemic and the
Grim Reaper will likely go into overdrive, targeting innocent, or at least
inoffensive, oldies like myself. Well, we oldies are not a push-over and we
shout from the rooftops our robust defiance to this impertinent virus and will
turn these “little local difficulties” into rich life-enhancing opportunities.
At present the restrictions are rather light; apart
from obsessively washing our hands (no great imposition), and not touching
one’s face (quite difficult), we are avoiding social gatherings (rather a
pity). Soon we oldies will not be admitted to large sports events and will be
advised to stay at home and tend our gardens. Eventually we may be advised to
“self-isolate” which I take to mean having minimal contact with outsiders and
my youngest son is currently paying us a lovely long visit to compensate for future
separation!
Self-isolation does not sound like any great
hardship and I am already planning a programme of activities to while away the
tedious moments:
- - Appropriately
enough, as the stories were supposedly produced by 10 Florentines, 7 ladies and
3 men, sheltering from the Black Death, I shall read Boccaccio’s Decameron
(1353) ranging from the tragic to the comic. Otherwise I shall read widely,
perhaps avoiding pro tem accounts of plagues and autopsies, which means
I drop Daniel Defoe and the gory thrills of Patricia Cornwell’s Dr Kay
Scarpetta.
- - I
possess the excellent, if weighty, American anthology The Limits of Art,
collected by Huntington Cairns, and shall re-vitalise my knowledge of the
glorious diction of William Wordsworth, increase my range on the works of
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (dear Queen Victoria’s favourite), and introduce myself
to the poetic joys of Algernon Swinburne, that most talented of the Decadents.
 |
| Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
 |
| Algernon Swinburne by Rossetti |
- - The
supermarkets may be bereft of baked beans and loo-rolls, so all the more reason
to stock up with tasty essentials like Champagne, Whitstaple oysters, fruit
cake, nourishing haggis and Speyside malt whisky to see us through the
forthcoming short siege.
- With all the wonders of modern computing
at my finger-tips, I will converse germ-free with my friends, bucking them up
as necessary, and listen to the endless pleasures of Bach and Mozart, leavened
with an occasional dash of Elvis, Abba and Elton.
 |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
 |
| Elton John emphasises the positives |
- - I
will be able discreetly to turn down, or off, the relentlessly “woke” effusions
from the liberal-left media, lecturing us on the creation of a multi-racial
society, positive discrimination, sexual equality, women’s rights, alleged
exploitation and their limits to free speech. Whatever their merits, and there
are some, I resent having them rammed down my throat by a motley bunch of
fanatics whose over-egged indignation weakens their case. I welcome a period of
self-isolation from this noisy gaggle.
Yes, we face more uncertainty and some danger
to our health, hopefully quickly to dissipate when the April and May sun warms
our cockles. Remember that there are friends and neighbours who may be worse
off than you, to whom we should render support. Allow our common humanity to
unite for the benefit of us all.
Fear not, as a few days ago, our morale here in
Folkestone took a particularly happy upwards turn. After scientific
investigation, carbon dating et al, the hidden bones discovered years
ago in a venerable (13th century) local church were declared to be almost
certainly the relics of St Eanswythe (614-640), grand-daughter of Anglo-Saxon
King Ethelbert of Kent, an early convert of St Augustine. She founded the first
priory for nuns in newly Christianised England – such a reassuringly devoted
ally in these uncertain times! In Folkestone, she is our patron saint and
protector and her intercession is, I assume, divinely guaranteed!
SMD
10.03.20
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald
2020
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