Flight of the Bumblebee

A very lazy day today, after all the frenetic activity of the week thus far. Consequently, I found myself prowling around the garden late afternoon, looking for something blipworthy. The only activity seemed to be around the Fuchsia, where the bees were busily collecting pollen in the sunshine. Mostly honey bees, but in amongst them I spotted the distinctive shape and stripes of this bumblebee. Not easy to get a clear shot as the bee was either right up inside the flowers or moving rapidly among them, but at least this one was reasonably in focus!
Supermarket shop this morning, and the gaps on the shelves were quite noticeable. It’s obvious that it’s a supply chain/delivery issue, rather than a shortage of items per se, as the gaps this week are not the same as those I saw last week. And not the same as in the same supermarket in a different town. But I suspect this is a problem that is only going to get worse, especially when we get nearer to Christmas.
I also found it a little worrying that so many elderly people no longer wear masks. Not that they ever wore them properly in the first place, but with news reports that the vaccine protection is diminishing, you would have thought that people would want to do all they could to stay safe pending a booster jab. I was starting to look forward to returning to the theatre and going to gigs again, but now can’t help but think that we may not be able to prevent another wave of the virus with the consequent reintroduction of restrictions. I suppose it’s all going to depend on how soon booster jabs for the elderly can be rolled out and/or we get children vaccinated.
But I’ll try and be positive and enjoy what outings I can over the next few weeks whilst endeavouring, at the same time, to stay as safe as possible. I’ll hope that the news reports are being typically over pessimistic and that the continuing vaccination rollout will eventually put a real dent in the transmission of the virus.