Monday 18th May
A suitable socially distanced dog walk with Richard, one of us from each household, in a public area, at least 2m apart, proving what law-abiding citizens we are. Fortunately, the guidance does not include dogs – Ellie has not seen Richard for a while, and is very enthusiastic about renewing the acquaintance. Ellie’s trailing lead comes in handy for preventing her from being equally enthusiastic when greeting oncoming dogs and owners, and occasionally, if I am not quick enough, for hauling her back to my side from a safe distance.
Richard and I chat about films – he has watched Contagion, a 2011 film with a plot that is scarily similar to the events that have lead to the current Coronavirus and Covid-19 crisis. A virus, originally bat-born, spreads across the globe from China, and the storyline includes many aspects recognisable during the current pandemic. The film has not surprisingly become popular during the current contagion. I had come across references to the film elsewhere, but did not realise quite how closely many details of the film mirror the spread of Coronavirus, although I believe that the film has more sub-plots and the deaths tend to be more dramatic.
I tell Richard of a story that also has similarities with the current pandemic. Being an old-fashioned sort of guy, the story that I found of interest, in the New Statesman, was a little less contemporary. In 1330’s and 1340’s bubonic plague spread from the Far East, with the modern (for the time) transport network of Mongolia allowing the disease to become a pandemic. The first European country to be affected, by travellers arriving from the East, was Italy, although in this case Sicily, not northern Italy. From Italy it spread across Europe, although taking months, not weeks. The pattern, if not the timing, of the spread of Bubonic Plague, was similar to modern Covid-19, although, as far as I know, the bodies of Covid-19 victims have not been thrown over any city walls to persuade the residents to flee, as happened with plague victims when the Mongol army lay siege to Kaffa.
I arrive home as a friend is pulling away from our drive, having left a welcome gift on our doorstep. Some people have groceries left outside, others luxury chocolates. I have two bottles of ale, including a Marmalade Ale, from Market Bosworth Brewery, and they are very welcome. Like many other microbreweries with normal outlets closed, Market Bosworth Brewery has adopted Click and Collect, order bottles online, and collect from the brewery. I shall enjoy those during our Zoom pub get together tomorrow.
During this evenings dog walk I am reminded of a comment that Richard made earlier. Where space permits, such as on field verges, where once was a single well-worn path, there is often a parallel track, a socially-distanced 2m from the original, created as approaching walkers diverge to avoid each other.
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.
