Birthdays Wishes and Puppy Kisses

Sunday and the twenty-seventh Covid blog.

Last Saturday was another traditional family birthday celebrated with Fish and Chips. A pre-birthday treat for myself and a chance to meet the long awaited and newest member to our family, Dillon.

I fell in love instantly, he has velvet fur and the most adorable floppy ears, who wouldn’t?
My Daughter made me a lovely cake and my excited Grandchildren sang ‘Happy Birthday’ making the day perfect.

Really though, this moment belonged to my Daughter and Son in Law’s puppy Dillon, who made every heart full.

On Tuesday (my actual birthday) I was greeted by a cupcake from a fellow colleague and my birthday twin. I then discovered the appearance of a beautiful orchid on my desk from yet another caring colleague.

However, I haven’t the heart to tell him that I am the kiss of death to the plant world. I will endeavour to treat it with the same kindness in which it was given but I’m not sure how long it will last, I’m aiming for Christmas but with my track record, I don’t hold out much hope.

This week has been a strange week, school is as always, incredibly busy with events constantly changing due to Covid. Hand sanitising and wiping down of desks has become routine and automatically the students now hold out their hands. The new normal is rapidly becoming just that, normal.

Except it isn’t is it? And with restrictions looming ever tighter the world feels as if it is about to stop again, with Autumn bringing the inevitable germs and Winter readily entering the starting blocks.

Despite this, it has still been a relief to return to a routine. This week I have smiled to myself when the students have gone home and each of us are working in our classrooms. Our doors now being always open, due to Covid regulations, means there is music wafting along the corridors from each one of our classrooms.

We are an eclectic bunch, I’m a Radio 2 kind of a girl my buddy opposite is a young Jazz man and along the way float the sounds of Indie Rock. I love that we are all so different yet the same and that somehow this seems to make the world feel right again.

Next Thursday is National Poetry Day and the theme is ‘Vision’ so apt, when the world finally being ours once again, is so very hard to see.

I love that we have poetry days, it matters and more than ever. I have been writing poetry since I was eleven years old, I didn’t share it with the world until a few years ago.

This succinct poem by Lemn Sissay has always for me, spoken volumes. I can not ever imagine my life without poetry.

Over the last few weeks I have had the chance to attend two wonderful events and had the privilege of hearing other poets and share my own poetry at these outside small gatherings. I have missed this so very much.
The two festivals I should have performed in were pushed back several times and now they will be next year but there is still a big question mark.

I hope to attend an indoor poetry seminar about the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson in the city next weekend. However, London has declared a higher risk rate and so once again I am waiting to see if this too will be cancelled but far more importantly, the lives of others are now again rising and in hope, along with the world, I am continuing to pray for a vaccine.

As a new week lays ahead we wait as a nation to see what follows…

There is at moment though, one saving grace to raise our spirits. Just as it was in the very beginning of lockdown when we all took to baking Banana Bread (those of us that were fortunate to procure flour) our love of all things sweet has again been indulged as we join the nation to watch the delights of ‘The Great British Bake Off.’

I am sure I was not only one this week to sympathise with the lady who by accident, knocked her poor competitors individual ‘Upside Down Puddings’ on the floor. I gasped and I felt her pain.

I know that I for one, am looking forward to the ups and downs (pardon the pun) over the next few weeks of the bakery tent antics.

This will however, no doubt follow a shortage of self raising flour as our renewed baking interest resumes!

I hope you have a poetic week, life is full of poetry and it’s beauty is ever present, it is around us and within us. You only need to open your heart and listen…

Stay Safe,

Joy xxx