Sizzler

34 degrees. I’ll take that, thank you very much. The day had the feel of a work day in the tropics, being energised by firefighting urgencies and jumping between tasks. Technically I think humidity is supposed to be draining, but for me it transports me to tropical places where I feel more effective in my work.

At lunchtime I went outside for a call with Ros, a friend, mentor and colleague who has retired and who we miss in the organisation. I appreciated her opening line of asking me where I would have preferred to be during the global shutdown; UK or Mozambique. It was a refreshing change from the usual offering which involves telling me it’s better that I happened to be here. With fewer than 2,000 cases and only 13 Covid deaths as of today, Mozambique seems eminently more sensible a place to be.

In the evening I went with Gugs and one of our mutual friends Laura to Lammas Land to loaf on the grass, which we did until darkness and spots of rain. This patch of Cambridge attracts large crowds of boisterous youths who get drunk, argue and lose their bikes. Then they stumble over in the dark and whimper about whether we’ve ‘seen a silver bike’. I imagine their search was fruitless.

The back of Darwin College here always makes me think of an old water mill sort of vibe.