After the rain

A quiet day, bright and crisp after all the rain.

Richard and I got out for an early walk along the Rivelin trail.  The usually-placid Rivelin was running high and fast, and had clearly breached its banks slightly overnight, in a few places - though not enough to cause problems. This morning we could see that the levels were already dropping again.

This afternoon I went to the dentist - the first opportunity for a check-up in a year.  It was the usual Covid routine on the way in: wait in the car park, in a loose queue of people hunched into masks, hats and coats in the chill wind; listen out for the call to go in, then have a  temperature check, use the hand sanitiser and then into the consultation room proper. Fortunately there's no work needed, other than a hygienist appointment next week. 
After that I went up to the local garden centre and bought some hellebores, some little irises and some fritillaries to put in the garden.  This definitely felt like a little statement of faith - spring will come :-)

I no longer feel I have to obsess over the news from the US on an hourly basis, though I've really enjoyed all the reports about the inauguration, especially on the music and the wonderful young poet Amanda Gorman. There is a huge sense of relief, even though many risks and difficulties remain.