A golden walk

Not a happy day, the weather was dull again with a bit of drizzle and the thought of another lockdown starting on Thursday made me feel really fed up. 

I am not sure what good these lockdowns do - they are a desperate measure to buy time when control of the situation has been lost, and while saving lives they also cost lives. So far all the focus has been on deaths due to Covid, but no comprehensive measure of the cost of lockdown has been published - the cost to people's livelihoods of lost employment, the cost to people's health both mentally and physically due to lack of other medical treatments, the cost to the youth in terms of an education hiatus and a loss of socialising. Those factors will take years to be fully assessed.

Many say lockdown should have happened sooner - heaven forbid, I think that would have been even more disastrous. The regional lockdowns and tier system was a good method if only the Track and Trace had worked correctly, but it relies on an efficient testing capacity, the ability to quickly trace contacts and for people to self isolate when required - although the UK has significantly increased testing there are problems with all of those aspects, and people could not be relied on for this model to work efficiently .

I cannot understand why they are closing outdoor sport facilities like tennis courts and golf courses and driving ranges. Gavin is fed up as he has just joined another golf club and golf is proving to be a wonderful release from the stresses of work. Adam is fed up that his gym is closing, it is an extremely well run gym with perfect Covid safety measures in place and they have never had a case there, yet they have to close. Being overweight is one of the key risk factors with Covid so you would think that the government would endeavour to keep all sports facilities open, provided they meet the stringent safety checks which most do.

Anyway, enough grumbling...we have to just get on with it and tomorrow I have to phone and change all my appointments for the dentist, optician and hairdresser - and I doubt I can get a mammogram booking now. 

Despite being a dull day the colour of the leaves in the woods made our walk beautifully golden today. Afterwards we went out to the pet shop at the garden centre to stock up on dog food, and oops, some Christmas decorations happened to find their way into our basket. Not sure we will even need them if the order for our tree cannot be fulfilled due to lockdown.