Party

I started the day feeling sad about the world.

In the morning whilst Mark makes coffee, I look at the news on my computer, and we muse about the day’s events whilst we wake up.

I did not much like what I read this morning.

I always thought that when a country started burning books it was time to leave.

This morning’s news made me consider this position. I am not sure if it ought to apply to episodes of Fawlty Towers, which might not be quite on the same scale as the demolition of giant statues of Buddha. In any case, it is not exactly being burned. We are not having a huge public inferno of video tapes on Ellerthwaite Square. It has simply been withdrawn from our reach.

I do not want to leave England anyway, because of not being able to take the conservatory with us, even if there were any countries advertising a shortage of recalcitrant taxi drivers. All the same I felt very sad indeed that it was happening. By a chance of fate we watched the whole series with Oliver in the beginning of the lockdown, from a vague feeling that it was part of our British culture and Oliver ought to know what it was about.

I am very glad that we did, otherwise he might never have seen it. You should not grow up without watching Basil Fawlty. He is one of the great anti-heroes of our time. We all laughed a lot and rewound the funniest bits to watch them again.

I don’t suppose John Cleese will care very much. He managed to survive all of the fuss about the Life Of Brian film. This fuss must be small potatoes after being told by all the world’s archbishops that he was going to burn in the depths of Hell.

I think perhaps it would be a very good idea if the country got back to watching football and going to the pub and the gym, and to school and to university, because it would give us all something to think about other than how offended we are feeling about everybody else.

It was not the only sad thing this morning.

On my morning dog-emptying I watched a council official going around the play areas, the skate park and the swings, renewing the zip-ties which were locking the gates shut. People have been rebelliously cutting them and going in, which is against all of the new rules.

I do not see why children are not allowed to swing. They do not seem to die of bat flu. They are not allowed to go to school or go swimming or to visit their friends, but surely they could be allowed to play on the swings or ride their bicycles around the skate park.

I wanted to go and say something unkind to the council official, but of course I didn’t, because it was not his fault.

I felt grey in my soul and troubled after all of this. I do not like living in a world where people are angry, especially me. Being cross with the world is a horrible feeling.

I made myself cheer up by remembering that we are going to have some visitors tonight. The ladies from across the road are going to come over for a sociable evening, which will probably involve drink. Certainly it will involve Roger Poopy charging about with their dog, who is called Pepper, and who he adores with his whole soul. He is very sad if we get up late and miss her at the park.

I have moved everything breakable. She has a very waggy tail and will rush straight into the house to investigate any left-lying-about dog dishes.

Mark has been at work, and I have done a lot of tidying up. I have put the dresser back together and put everything back inside it. It appears to be a sort of culinary Tardis, because the clutter that came out of it filled the entire kitchen, sprawling across every surface and filling some carrier bags in a pile on the floor. It is all stacked tidily back inside it now and the kitchen is suddenly and miraculously clear.

This is something to feel pleased about.

We have got an awful lot of the repairs done.

Oliver seems to be doing very well in his end of term exams.

We are going to have a party tonight.

The world is not such a bad place.

LATER NOTE:  We had our party. We talked and talked and the dogs charged about, and I have drunk too much wine. We have got the loveliest neighbours and the world is a brilliant place.

My face hurts from smiling.

I have taken a picture of the dresser but it is a bit rubbish because one of the doors is still missing. This needs the screw holes filling in a bit so that it does not rattle any more.

All the same it is lovely.