The way we live now

(For the annual ramblings, see entry for 1 December) 

We scarcely leave the house these days, save for essentials.  What has been our practice for many months is now codified indefinitely by the government, since a new and seemingly more transmissible strain of the lurgy has taken a hold in our neck of the woods.  Our European neighbours have closed their borders to traffic from the UK.  Shopping patterns seem to be returning to what we saw in March: I’ve been going once a week when the supermarket opens: today at 06:00, the queue ran all the way across the front of the building and along one side of the car park.

Other habits change too: our friends’ annual punch and carols bash took place last night using a mix of Zoom and Vimeo, with the carols sung by Voces8, a group of outstanding singers.  Richard presided at the piano, assigning singing roles according to his usual whimsical criteria: ‘next verse: people wearing anything from Marks & Spencer’, ‘next verse: anyone regretting the departure of the 45th president of the USA’, and lots more.  I have to say that the event was far more musical than the live event, which usually has all the finesse of a Millwall football crowd (OK: mild exaggeration!).  It was recorded in Voces8’s  home base, the church of St Anne and St Agnes in Gresham Street, near where I worked in my twenties.  The church, by Christopher Wren, and rebuilt after wartime bombing, was for some decades home to a Lutheran congregation of Estonian and Latvian expatriates.

The technology worked pretty well, which was a relief - our electricity supply went off for a while earlier in the day.  I tried to tether my iPad to the mobile phone, only to find that BT’s 4G service was also out of action.  Out of curiosity, I got steam up on my ancient Nokia handset, and got a big fat GSM signal from Vodafone.  The cut lasted only about half an hour anyway.

Well, I think we’re set up for the long holiday weekend, not that we’re entertaining or being entertained, of course.  Here’s hoping for a peaceful and healthy festive season.