№19 — Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey

Hello,

When I wrote my last Note From Afar on December 31 2021 I had fully intended to start publishing monthly newsletters again, and yet here we are in March April almost two and half over three months later.

I don’t know about you, but since this whole COVID lockdown thing began time seems to have become elastic - it either rushes by or drags past slowly.

So What Have I Been Doing?

After almost two years of being classed as ‘high risk’ COVID finally got me, thankfully it was ‘only Omicron’ and even more thankfully I was triple vaccinated.

If I’d caught it twelve months earlier I feel sure I’d have been hospitalised, but all I had was the worst cold/flu symptoms I’ve ever experienced for just a couple of days and then I was back to work - the joy of being self employed.

It took over 10 days for me to stop testing positive and I had terrible headaches and fatigue for several weeks. The only lasting effects appear to be a significant worsening in my tinnitus and a negative impact on my already less than amazing memory.

Covid can shrink brain and damage its tissue, finds research — The Guardian

I’m now quadruple vaccinated so hopefully I’ll be OK for a while as the rest of the UK acts like COVID never happened.

I met a friend for dinner in London the night before Storm Eunice hit the UK, we met in pub in Marylebone and it was like the before times - completely rammed and not a mask in site.

Sheltering From The Storm

However, Storm Eunice was kind of fun for me. I couldn’t get home as planned, with Euston Station closed and no trains running, so I spent an extra day in London.

Other than popping out for lunch…

I spent most of day the 15th floor of my hotel overlooking the Thames watching the wind drive waves and spray against the tide.

Well that and Big Jet TV like the rest of the nation.

Cities Beginning With B

I’m now working outside my home office on occasion. I’ve recently had two trips to Bristol to work with the agency I’m using on my current project.

I must admit it felt good to be back travelling and working somewhere else.

My wife and I were finally able to visit our daughter at Uni in Belfast together. When J went over to start Uni I was unable to travel as it was at the peak of COVID and being high risk I couldn’t safely travel. Ultimately J spent most of her first year back at home, but I was so sad not to be able to help her settle in to a new city.

We were booked to go late last year but my wife tested positive just before were were due to travel so I went alone. My wife then went over a month or so later, which was good for J as she had two visits in quick succession.

So it was lovely to finally all be together in Belfast for the first time in February.

I love Belfast and it was great to be able to visit some of my favourite places with the two most important women in my life.

We did the Troubles Taxi Tour for the first time which was fascinating, horrifying and moving in equal measure. As a child of the 70s I grew up with the ‘troubles’ being in the news every day, but it was odd to see the places behind the names we hard so often - Falls Road, Shankhill Road, Divis Flats and the Peace Wall.

I’ve seen parts of the Berlin Wall, but the Peace Wall felt even more dystopian somehow - not least because it’s still standing and still needed.

Looking Forward

It’s been good being back in Bristol - the city where my Father grew up and my parents met, but one I don’t know as well as I’d like to. Between now and July I’ll be visiting Bristol regularly and look forward to exploring it more.

I’ll be dusting off my camera and seeing if I can remember how to take ‘real’ photographs.

Until next time.

David