MARCH 12

I saw this lock, below, attached to a tree in St. James’s Park, near Buckingham Palace. I don’t know who put it there-or why- but it was the last thing I saw in the open air before self-isolating in our apartment.

That was on March 23 but I’m going to go back a bit further than that before bringing you up to date.

Both of us are frightened to death by Prime ‘Minister, Boris Johnson’s speech at his briefing today predicting that “More people will lose loved ones before their time”. We are those loved ones – or at least, we’re the aged he’s talking about. My husband, “The Writer” and I have the same conversation we’ve been having since all this began. Me : ” The only way to be 100% certain we don’t get it, is not to leave the house until there is a vaccine in 18months time.” ‘The Writer’: Well then, that’s what we should do”. Me: But I don’t think I could stand not walking in the open air for so long” Him: Well, then, let’s keep going as we are” Me: “Oh God” “

I’ve noticed that God, in whom I definitely didn’t believe last month, seems to have crept into my thoughts quite a bit lately. I remember a school hym “God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year”. Surely this is God working his purpose out? We have plundered the planet so now we can’t fly or cruise or litter the beaches with plastic. He allocated us three-score years and ten and we got cocky, lifting weights and jogging and bo-toxing and living to 80/90/100 so, now He’s targeted the elderly with his hideous virus and is clearing us out of the way. When I’m feeling more my normal self, I tend to the theory that it’s a Global conspiracy of Governments to rid themselves of the costly elderly, not have to pay out fortunes for Social Care and start over with a young, vigorous (and much less high-maintenance) population.