Cafes are now a no-no, but we still met at Hamstreet and sat on a bench (at each end, to preserve "social distancing") by the village green, having each brought a flask and food. Munching a banana/jam sandwich it was just like "elevenses" breaks in the old Cyclists' Touring Club (we are both life members) club run days of some 65 years ago.
Luckily it was dry, but we would not have been out anyway if it was raining. Whilst we so sat a woman, who we both recognised as a regular Cosy Kettle Cafe customer walked over the green, holding a takeout cup of coffee and sat at a nearby bench. She also recognised us and on greeting said, "the cafe is still open for takeaways if you want a cup of coffee and a slice of cake". We said we were a self preservation society, thank you. "I need to get out amongst others since my husband died a while ago, so it is good to be able to still go the the cafe, even if I can't sit there and chat to people", she said - from a safe distance.
The cold wind began to make itself apparent on our backs after a while so we shouted our goodbyes and "Marsh meandered" away. Around Hamstreet (which is just off the Marsh) primroses were absolutely prolific, but it is a known phenomenon that once below the Royal Military Canal and on the Marsh proper all wild primroses disappear completely.
6 comments:
In a way, it is good that the rat-race has been put on hold, but it certainly exposes the fragility of the system of commerce we have built up over the last 50 years. We meet friends and family in a park too, I just wish they had opposing benches rather than single ones, just under six feet wide.
Tom:
Yes, the bench we used was a regulation 6 footer. A longer 2 metre one might have been preferable, but both of us are plague free (at present, fingers crossed!) and we are neither of us likely to indulge in physical intamacy!
Its good to get out especially in this spell of fine weather. I manage a daily ride , a shorter one than perhaps I would have done but it still breaks the day up. we are semi rural here with lots of trails and they are well used. In fact now a days its quieter to cycle on the roads. All the best.
Dave:
I have noticed, too, that it is pleasanter cycling round the rural lanes as there is a lot less traffic now. So everything has its upsides if you look for them!
Keep safe.
There are minor benefits to The Plague. Walks are, of course, brief and few people are out and about. But those one does see appear to be slightly less inhibited. Greeting are warm, there is even time for a shouted one-line joke, however feeble. It is quite possible that the woman you met might - under normal circumstances - have felt too shy to initiate a chat. But the sense of all being in the same boat can be something of a liberator.
RR:
I, too have noticed how the shared difficulties have resulted in greetings from others who might well have ignored you in the past. However I shall not be cycling this Sunday. As I sit here at the PC and look out of the window, the gales are lashing the trees and it is snowing heavily. Albeit they are large, wet flakes and not settling.
I wish you both well
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