After seven at night there is no noise. Usually, you can hear a car on the main road a couple of miles away or a tractor working late on a distant farm. Now I can stand on the lane at the start of curfew and hear nothing.
On Sunday three planes flew over. One of them, a huge A380, barreled through the sky. Its four engines leaving a broad contrail behind them. The fact I can remember a plane flying over a sign of how unusual it was. Yesterday, not a thing came along the lane. Even the farmers seem to be at home. The absence of noise has to be the the most memorable thing about this 21st century pandemic. I would say it's complete silence but it's not. During the day there's the sound of the frogs in the village pond and some amorous pheasant in the walnut groves. At dusk all the village churches for miles around ring out in unison. The sound of the bells seems to roll up the hills before fading softly away. During the night there's the owls. Boy, do the owls know how to maintain a conversation. Four of them sat on the bedroom window ledge and started discussing this years vole and shrew vintages at 1:13. They were still going strong at 4:32.
Everyone went to bed late and, thanks to the owls, got up early to face the Florida and Ohio results. This morning the French breakfast radio putting a brave face on things ( or perhaps they haven't seen the latest numbers ). A ferociously cheerful announcer informs us Biden is a great Francophone who'll soon be in the White House. Tomorrow morning they will be dispensing insights into the mundanities of Pennsylvania county tallies.
Faced with this change to her routine Sophie made an executive decision to take a post-breakfast nap on the front door step ... with the door wide open.
7 comments:
Sophie has made a wise choice. I think I will take a nap and plan to wake up on Saturday! I wish you could post an audio of what you hear around the village - it sounds lovely. We had owls around our house in Los Angeles, but they were much quieter than yours. At the moment in Tokyo, all I can hear is a jackhammer.
I'm a nervous wreck and I've barely slept tonight and I'm glad I took Weds off work. Right now I'm waiting to see what Trump has to say at 2:20AM.
At the moment I feel like a 4 year nap is in order. But Bertie thinks otherwise so it's to the park as usual.
I'd like to take a nap and wake when America has seen sense - I could be asleep for a long time! Isn't it extraordinary that what used to be considered the 'leader of the free world' should now be a laughing stock! I was looking for a birthday card last week and there was a good one with a framed painting of George Washington on the front and the caption "For your birthday there's a fruit cake in the White House" . Very good. Very true. Very, very sad. A week ago Fox News did a piece in their news segment about how New Zealand had been turned into a fascist state with prison-like restrictions on freedoms for returnees detained in isolation. People actually spend two weeks, FREE of cost, in isolation hotels - 4 and star facilities with all meals, internet etc provided!!!
Starting the day off with a nap on the stoop is the right way to get this post election morning off to a 'balanced' start.
It's almost as if we're back to 2016 with votes piling up in places that don't matter and wafer thin margins where they do.
Bertie has a very 'chill' view of life.
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