Sunday 10th May
I click on the Zoom invitation to our church service, and as the audio connects, I hear peals of laughter from those already “logged in”. It appears that I am the source of mirth. You may recall that last weekend I spent 20 minutes talking Andree through the process of joining a family Zoom gathering. When we eventually joined the others, already chatting, I re-named myself, just for fun, from the usual “Neil” that appears on Zoom. This morning’s church service was my first Zoom as a non-host since last weekend, and it seems that the name is remembered. Consequently church members see the unexpected message “A Tolerant Son-in-Law is joining”. I promptly revert to “Neil”.
Our house phone, close to my laptop, rings during the church service, a call from the only friend who calls our landline. Fortunately, all Zoom participants are muted, but I have to leave the service briefly to delete the voicemail, and silence the beeps from our answerphone. Later Ellie barks to be let outside, this time when none of us are muted, but I have learned, when un-muted, to keep my cursor hovering over the mute option, silencing any unexpected domestic noises. The big advantage of attending a “real” church to worship is that, for a while, you are away from the outside world distractions, allowing the praise, prayers and message to have undivided attention (well, usually…). On the other hand, although other household activities can intrude on Zoom, only a handful of the 20+ participants are visible at any time, the service feeling more personal, like a small tutorial group rather than a lecture.
A cold and windy day, better spent indoors, apart from dog walks, than in the garden. We get together with Chantal’s family. This time Andree is the first to join on Zoom. She has opened her e-mails earlier, and left the mailbox open in readiness for Chantal’s invitation. There is no-doubt that lockdown has encouraged many to gain confidence in communicating online, which must be a benefit.
Boris broadcasts his plan for relaxing lockdown. This post is not the place for the details, but I like the Governments attempt to explain why any plan cannot be set in stone. I like to think that I have a reasonable understanding of the concept of risk and probability. Most people don’t. If this wasn’t the case, the National Lottery would not be the success that it is. Consequently, many people just want to know “So, is that a Yes or a No?”, unhappy with the unavoidable “It Depends…”. The graphics used in the broadcast state the stages and timescale for relaxation, while, I think, clearly explaining why these may change, and that “the brakes may be re-applied”.
The details of what aspects of relaxation will be relaxed at each stage were limited, maybe inevitable in a 14-minute broadcast. We all must await full details in the report presented to Parliament tomorrow.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
