As a second lockdown looms on the horizon, I have been thinking about what we’ll do when confronted once again with oceans of time. Specifically, what I’ll do. I do love a plan because it gives me the illusion of control when in fact I have none. During the first lockdown I was brimming with…
Month: October 2020
The plane to nowhere
Most people I know don’t enjoy flying very much. What used to be considered a glamorous adventure has become a dreary slog in recent years, at least for those travelling in economy. The airport experience was particularly bad, involving long waits, searches, frisking and the passengers’ walk of shame through the metal detector – shoeless,…
Herd mentality
I try not to quote the American super-spreader in chief, but something he said recently really amused me. He referred to ‘herd mentality’ protecting us from coronavirus, even though I’m fairly sure what he meant was ‘herd immunity’. Although we’re all armchair epidemiologists these days, I’ll spare you my uninformed views on herd immunity, but…
Cancel the retreat
It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was only last autumn when I spent a few days on a retreat at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in London’s east end. It’s hard to believe now that I thought it would be a real luxury to withdraw from the world and to spend a…
Wasting time used to be so easy
Wasting time never used to be a challenge. You could read a rubbishy airport novel (the kind with titles that had raised letters in gold), take a nap, do a jigsaw puzzle, wander round the garden or simply stare into space. All these activities were reassuringly pointless. But nothing is pointless any more – no…