Today life is meant to start returning to something like normal in France. We can travel more than 100 km from our homes; restaurants are open; and I don’t know what all. I am not quite ready. Still very wary. Wearing a mask in public for the indefinite future. Dashing through all shopping and trying not to touch anything. Using loads of hand sanitizer and have sung the Doxology approximately 1 million times while washing my hands, with the prospect of countless gazillions more to come. We shall see.
I wake up early (for me) in these pandemic days–whether I’ve slept (unlikely) or not (highly, highly likely) and immediately turn on (who am I kidding? I make Alexa do it!) BBC Radio 4. Unfortunately, the segment I am most addicted to is the one most likely to send me back to sleep: the Shipping Forecast. Is there anything more mesmerizing than its mysterious monotones?
My friend Catherine knows all about it and why it is not in fact mysterious. Perhaps she will weigh in with a comment. And all of you closet Shipping Forecast addicts–weigh in!