Zero plus one

There were lots of fat juicy blackberries growing in the car park at work so we foraged some to go with our apples before coming home.

There is a phrase about today being the first day of the rest of your life, which on waking at 5am with the sun streaming into the room felt apt for the day after receiving difficult news. We're now in the slightly unreal “what next” frame of mind, but can at least do some planning knowing that the worst bit of the process will hopefully be over before Christmas.

I had the unwelcome distraction of covering a colleague’s workload whilst they were on holiday, namely the monthly meeting of the Great and the Good, which was not difficult but was exhausting. I used to be able to take minutes for three hours without batting an eyelid but now find that having to pay attention to every word for the equivalent of two football matches just drains me. TSM and I caught up at lunchtime when we were in a small and much more informal meeting together. We also have the prospect of a long evening meeting tomorrow until 9pm, and are taking part in Surrey’s first ever Pride event on behalf of the NHS on Saturday. So by the time we get to Saturday evening we will be in need of some time together that doesn’t involve work.

There is a whiff of autumn in the air. I have seen a few early leaves falling and the nights are drawing in. The shitstorm that is Brexit continues to dominate the news. I have become a member of the twitterati recently and am astonished at how even the most reasonable and intelligent people are animated in the most basic and tribal of ways by the whole debate. Simon Schama called Boris Johnson “Fatso” in a recent tweet, which is definitely the language of the playground rather than that of the intelligentsia gathered in virtual conclave. Much talk of confrontation (legal and actual) and words such as ‘vermin’ and ‘treason’ seem to have entered everyday discourse.

I have a feeling that the years ahead will be bitter and messy. But since yesterday’s news, the priorities have changed for us, so I shall do my best to focus on what matters most, close to home.