getting vaccinated
6th March 2021
I rode my bicycle to the Vaccination Centre.
I was a bit out of practice, but I hardly fell off at all.
The Vaccination Centre was very well organised.
A helpful rabbit outside showed me exactly where to park my bicycle, and then a green bear asked me to sanitise my paws, and a mouse took my details, and from there I just had to follow the arrows until I arrived at the actual vaccination point.
I took off my reflective cycling jacket. But then I was a little embarrassed, because my jersey is quite tight, and I couldn’t roll the sleeve up far enough.
Of course when I got home, I was tired after all that bicycling.
And then I began to feel a bit cold and shaky.
Luckily my kind cousin Peter has sent me a beautiful knitted thing. He says it’s a scawl or sharf. It’s very cosy.
I wrapped myself up in it, and then I had to find a way of keeping the Baby occupied, that wouldn’t need much energy on my part.
I’ve noticed that the Baby is very interested in numbers.
When young Didcot saw my slate a few years ago, he thought it was from my own school days.
But it does come in handy, since I don’t have a blackboard.
I don’t seem to have my Ludo board any more, but this game is just as good for us.
I throw the dice, and the Baby jumps the right number of jumps along the line.
It seems happy to do it over and over again.
Now it’s learnt how to roll the dice for itself.
I went to check that the paint had dried on the birthday card that I was making for Dorset Monkey.
Oh. I wonder who did that?
Bright and cheerful. A splash of yellow is always nice.
I expect Dorset Monkey will like it.
It’s still a bit sticky. I’d better put the paints away before anyone has any more creative ideas.
And then I think I’ll lie down.
I’ll soon be 59% to 86% less likely to be hospitalised if I catch the Virus.
RING RING! RING RING!
Oh, there’s the telephone. That’s the trouble with sleeping in the daytime.
I feel quite woozy now. Poor nurses. I’d better concentrate on recovering so that they don’t have me to look after as well as everyone else.
Yes, Baby, that’s six. Go and jump!
while the Baby’s out
15th March 2021
This morning, after the Baby had set out for its run in the park with Lopsy,
I took advantage of the peace and quiet to have a nice cup of tea, and consider the question of Um.
I thought of offering a cup of tea to her, but she was hiding again.
I worry about her.
She shouldn’t be living with a boring old bear like me.
Of course we’re all isolated at the moment, but she doesn’t even have anyone to text or phone or email.
I suppose she left her friends and family behind in the place that she came from. Wherever that was.
I don’t know much about her.
We met when I was camping at the seaside.
I went for a last stroll on the beach before bed one evening, and that’s when I came on Um.
She was wet and cold, and very tired and frightened.
I don’t know how she’d got there.
Later I discovered that she had a baby in her pocket.
After I’d got them dry and warm and fed and rested, we set off to walk home.
It would have been a very long trudge, all the way home from the seaside. And I didn’t really know the route.
Luckily the Invisible Friend turned up and gave us a ride home in her school bus.
Got us here just in the nick of time before the Second Lockdown began.
I think Um is a little more relaxed now, but I wouldn’t say she’s got over her trauma.
I’ll consult my friends about finding out what language she speaks, and working out what plans we should be making for her and the Baby.
That’s probably enough thinking about Um for now.
But I’ll put out a cup of tea and a banana, for her to have when she comes out of hiding.
Now, I may have mentioned, possibly even twice, that I have a key.
It’s quite an unusual one.
At the beginning of Lockdown, I decided to sort out my possessions. The key was one of the things that turned up.
I should confess that I still haven’t quite finished finding a place for everything.
I’ve been trying out the key on many people and things that I thought might need to be wound up.
I offered to help the guardsman, even though his hat is made of you-know-what.
Actually, maybe it isn’t. Now I come to think of it, it looks more like tin. So I’m glad I did offer to help him.
But the key didn’t fit him. It didn’t fit any of them.
However, today a postcard came through the door. That doesn’t often happen.
I know I shouldn’t pick the post up straight away, in case the poor postperson has been exposed to the Virus on someone’s doorbell or letterbox, and has then infected my letters.
So I read the card as it lay on the mat.
It’s from my friend Viol Teddy, suggesting I go and join him for a swim in his bird-bath, when we’re allowed to travel and socialise again.
On the writing side, there’s a small picture of Alice-in-Wonderland.
That made me impatient to see what the main picture was, so without contaminating my paws, I flipped the card over with a spoon.
The picture is of the White Rabbit, checking the time on his watch.
It’s a pocket-watch, on a chain, and that’s given me an idea.
I think I know what may need my key to wind it up – my great-grandfather’s pocket-watch.
But where is it? I haven’t seen it for a long time.
I wonder if Viol Teddy would like to join Bimbo’s Zoom Ensemble.
I looked out some zoomy music that Lopsy and I could play together.
But it was quite a short practice.
That was the Baby arriving home. The doorbell is quite mellifluous, isn’t it?
migrants, duets, and brown food
26th March 2021
Look who’s home.
The stork’s back on his hook.
He’s been away in Mali all winter. I expect it was nice and warm there.
The cuckoos are both back too, in and on the clock.
I don’t know where they go to in winter. I’ve never succeeded in communicating with them.
Apparently many cuckoos like the edges of the Congo rain forest.
It’s so good to see them all again. And hear them.
They just missed getting listed in The Census.
Actually, don’t tell the Prime Minister, but I wouldn’t have put them down on the list anyway.
I was trying to work out what to fill in for Um, because I really don’t know any of her details at all.
I don’t know her full name, or her ethnic origin, or whether she has any religious or non-religious belief.
When I tried to ask her, and showed her the form, she got very agitated.
I think she’d rather stay under the radar.
And it might be the same for the cuckoos and the stork. I don’t know what their immigration status is.
So as far as The Census is concerned, I’m living alone.
Historians of the future will never know about the richness and diversity of our little household.
They’ll be ignorant of quite a lot. The questions in the Census don’t cover much of the important stuff.
Lopsy and I have been practising our zoom duet.
Lopsy says she’s not good at reading standard musical notation, so I found some music written in zoomy lines, much easier than crotchets and quavers.
I didn’t like to tell Lopsy that she’s reading the music sideways.
It wasn’t originally scored for harmonica, but I think that was a mistake by the composer.
Lopsy is interpreting the lines quite freely, and I’m fitting in around her.
It’s good that she’s exploring different dynamics.
You may be able to hear the Baby joining in with the Vitamin D tablets. I think it’s a rather talented little bear.
Bimbo and Points have already recorded their duet on ocarina and bugle.
Poor Bimbo. He used to love playing in brass bands and silver bands and wind bands.
We must work harder on our parts in his Zoom Ensemble, so that at least he gets the pleasure of directing beautiful music.
Seaford is without a duet partner at the moment.
Bimbo had paired him with Monkey, but at the moment Monkey is too busy to practise playing his pipe.
He’s looking after Bunce and Snowy, who caught the Virus, and he’s running their farm for them.
I’ll bake some brownies to send to them. I know they like to eat only wholesome food, but you can take things too far.
Since brownies are so brown, they should be quite healthy, shouldn’t they?
The cuckoos and the stork may be glad of something filling too, after their long flight.
Lopsy brought the Baby home just as I was melting half a pound of butter and stirring in a pound of sugar. Energy for the invalids.
It’s so kind of Lopsy to take the Baby out every day. It makes my life a lot easier.
I just noticed Um and the Stork scuttling away together into the airing cupboard. That’s one of Um’s favourite hiding places.
Perhaps the Stork speaks the same language as Um. That will be nice for her.
I’d better make sure they’re not disturbed.
Let’s do some more baking, Baby. We’ll make nourishing brownies to send to Bunce and Snowy.
You like helping with baking, don’t you, Baby?
But maybe we should get you cleaned up a bit before your mother sees you.
Into the bath with you, Baby, and we’ll give you a good scrub.
That’s the first time the Baby’s been washed for many a week. We probably should do it more often.