When we lived in CoVid times*

I got up early, for half term, because I had to do a CoVid test and the courier was booked from 8am. (The test was offered to me by the government as part of a randomised trial, not because I have any symptoms).

By the time I'd labelled the test tube and the bag and sealed the box and left it outside, the early morning cups of tea I had made were only lukewarm. I drank mine, but decided to make another.

Back in the kitchen, Bomble, who has to paw the ground before he can drink from his bowl, put his paw inside the cup and knocked it over. Water everywhere! He looked surprised. I made the tea and mopped up. Offered Bomble a refill. The courier arrived to collect the test kit. Bomble approached the water, and tipped the cup over again! I re-mopped, then offered Bomble two more different styles of bowl of water, both of which he refused. By now worried, I called Steve down, advising that he should wear shoes in the kitchen. Bomble was still refusing to drink and wincing when his face touched the water. Finally, when we'd decided a vet was needed, the water reached a suitable temperature, and Bomble deigned to drink it, without spilling this time.

I checked the second cup of tea. It was cold.

That was the start of my third day in not-so-laid-back half term in lockdown. I walked into town (sunny!) met a friend for pavement pounding, did some shopping, and bought a magazine called Wanderlust to remind me that the world is a great deal bigger than my small town.

* Inspired by Linda Grant's 1999 novel, about the life of a young woman in the 1950s newly-formed state of Israel, When I lived in Modern Times.





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