Quiet in the city

The upstairs neighbours woke us at 5am so, in the hope of getting a decent night’s sleep I’m in a tent in the garden. The cat is very confused. It’s lovely hearing the wind in the trees, although I wonder what our mischievous foxes will think of the tent.

One plus point that I was very excited about is that I get to use my new Thermos. I’ve filled it with breakfast tea. I know my kitchen’s just over there but this is more fun.

My teeth passed their check-up this morning. It’s quite extraordinary what’s gone on in the six months since I last visited the dentist. The surgery was thorough with COVID precautions, with a temperature check, a safe place for my bag and coat, hand sanitizer and a clean of surfaces between patients.

As always after the dentist, I treated myself to breakfast (at lunchtime because I can’t eat anything before a dentist visit due to nerves and the appointment was late morning). I headed to Covent Garden, which was so quiet, and found some treats. I found a bench and ate while watching staff of various restaurants survey mostly empty tables. There’s tonnes of outdoor seating but no folk around.

Before lockdown I ate my lunch around here often but I could see no office workers with sandwiches. It was very strange and quite different. It must be tough for the businesses. I went into a few outdoor shops looking for a flask and they were very happy to have a customer, although I just browsed... in the end I bought a Thermos from Argos in Brixton. I caught the tube there and it was fairly quiet, too. This poem struck a chord. I will remember to keep some paradise in my pocket.

This evening we ate outside at the local Thai, which was delicious. We got chatting to Mose, a guy seated at the next socially distant table who’s trying out all the restaurants of West Norwood and who is on a mission to encourage people to eat and shop local.

The cat thinks the tent is a plaything - it may not survive the night.