New Gate

This field is part of Higher Radway farm and I'm full of admiration for any farmer who puts up a new wooden gate rather than one of those tubular galvanised metal jobs. It looks a bit new now but it'll gradually weather in to the landscape and provide good service for many years to come.

Today government is really increasing pressure on us all to buckle down and take note of the prescribed restrictions. Some of us in the vulnerable groups will be getting a letter regarding our placing in the hierarchy of vulnerability. I'm not sure where I'll be placed or if I'll get a letter at all. It's a matter of perception, isn't it. As we get older we may be surprised by the old geezer looking back at us from the mirror when we probably still envision ourselves as maybe 25 or 30. I've had type 1 diabetes since I was 26 and I've always fought against regarding it as a disability. If you have to have a condition, diabetes isn't a bad one to have. It does mean that my immunity is compromised and whilst most people can shake off a cold in a week, it takes me two. I have to give it some thought and it's likely bite me on the bum with a hypo when I least expect it. By and large though, it's been something you can deal with, at least since 1922 when the first insulin injection was administered and diabetics stopped dying early. 

This morning I was thinking that I would have to remain in isolation at home for the next 12 weeks which goes against everything I believe about being able to get out and about within the guidelines on social distancing.

As it happened the next thing to appear on this morning's TV was a Scottish Professor and advisor to the Scottish Government. He answered some questions on what people could and could not do. He said that rules applied differently according to geography and said his parents, in their late 70s, who lived in a rural environment, walked or drove to areas where they could walk without making contact with others. He said that this was not just safe but recommended! OK, same situation as me but without the complication of type 1 diabetes. The answer for me? I'm still not sure.