Burning

Another strangely stressful day. I found myself even before I'd finished breakfast trying to work out how to share my phone screen with my television, so that when it comes to online family visits in the Christmas that is now more or less settled as happening without any actual meetings I can do better than sitting perched on my work chair in the study, champagne glass in hand... I've not succeeded yet, but I believer there's a video which might help, if I could just get time to watch it.

After that the morning became a bit of a scamper - dishes, coffee, arrangements for the weekend (a phone call) then out once more to rehearse in church. Fun but freezing, as usual. Before I was even home again I was arranging to meet my pal an hour later for a walk - these horribly short afternoons mean you have to get out so briskly if you don't want to get lost in the dark somewhere. The walk turned out to be a therapeutic affair for us both as we bashed straight up the forest track that comes out at the top of Benmore Gardens, talking all the way about a shared angst. In a way it felt good to be sharing it, I have to say, rather than one of us having to support the other. We went into the Gardens by the top gate, finding this marvellous fire burning right in the middle of our path - the gardeners are doing a lot of clearing up and felling of any diseased trees, and there tends to be a fire somewhere up here most days. It was the most brilliant red in the grey of the afternoon - the photo conveys something of that, but not the wonderful smell of the wood smoke. Further on, a small deer clattered out of a clump of trees just in front of us, and headed off down the track - a sure sign that the gardens were virtually empty.

Exercise over, I had time to chase up another missing present, still supposed to be heading my way but still to be posted on, and and do a few lessons in my Italian course. It was when I was cooking dinner that I realised I had my Mussolini jaw thing going again - bad, that.

Non-Scottish readers might be interested to know that the (fairly dire) chat show at 9am today was about how you deal with people who infringe your covid-regulated space or whatever. Apparently Tom Cruise had a rant at his crew and someone recorded it, sweary words and all? One woman was beating herself up on air because she'd not said anything to someone who'd been in close contact with an infected person, been sent home to self-isolate, and was still collecting her child at the school gate and telling her friend about it ... 

Let's hope I don't have to have another rant tomorrow.