I am eternally grateful that our weather has been fantastic! Good old Blighty to help get me through this unnatural, surreal period and still remain, most of the time, ‘glass half full’.
I’d be lying if I said that life has been a doddle. I have suffered from occasional anxiety attacks lasting as long as it takes to remind myself how lucky I am! I have a garden. I live in a rural, beautiful part of the country. I am fit and active enough to take long walks every day isolating with someone I get on with really well. Most of the time. I do remote daily workouts, courtesy of our gym, so can keep relatively fit and supple!
But I have had a distraction, which has helped. Our house backs onto a lane which separates us from a ten acre wood. For the twenty years we have lived here it has been known as ‘our wood’. Not because we own it, but because we love it.
We sit in our conservatory and look across at the changing seasons. We revel in the abundant bird life. During winter we can see right through to the field on the other side. As April moves slowly into May the naked, gnarled, nameless shapes morph into majestic beech, sycamore, ash and oak trees! The rhododendrons are part of the ground cover and, for most of the year, look like boring overgrown shrubs. In May they come into their own and produce masses of delicate, mauve blossoms.
So you can imagine our concern when we noticed road making equipment parked at the far end of ‘our wood’! We knew it had been sold but presumed it was bought by the same farmer who had purchased the two adjoining fields. We had naively presumed it was going to be his tax evasion, called ‘set aside’, which is government funded.
Rumours were rife. We heard that a large number of trees were going to be felled and an adventure park built in the unploughed field at the top of the hill. Sound travels far on still, balmy days and we watched in horror as trees began to crash down amid shrieks and whoops of delight! We heard the digger bashing and crunching it’s way through the thick undergrowth and saw the steel bucket swinging precariously as it moved past our kitchen window!
This had started to affect my sleep as, previously explained, I do a really good worry! A couple of days ago we walked down the lane and noticed a red car which had a forestry company name emblazoned on the side. My husband decided to query the price of removing a huge ash tree at the bottom of our garden and we got talking to the young man leaning against the door.
He told us that his company had a five year contract to manage the wood. Trees would be removed when necessary as a conservation exercise. The road up to the top field had a small detour to avoid a badger’s sett. Before the trees had been felled they had checked for birds nests. He gave us his word that the wood would be sensitively maintained and we had nothing to worry about! He didn’t know anything about chalets and adventure parks. Of course he wouldn’t! He was a forester!
So I have slept easier! There could still be plans for a development in the field above ‘our wood’! This would greatly increase the traffic using the lane but, as I am trying to adhere to my lockdown mantra, I am taking one day at a time! I’ll fight that battle when, or if, I have to!
The sun is still shining. The birds are still singing. We are all still fit and well. It’s Friday. I’m having my first gin and tonic of the week when the sun goes over the yardarm! We’re having a party in our street starting at 4:00 pm to celebrate VE Day. We’ll adhere to social distancing but it will be good to do a spot of socialising again as we remember the millions who perished during the Second World War. Puts things into perspective!
All we have to do as stay at home and fervently hope that our brilliant scientists either get a vaccine, find a cure or the dastardly virus gets annihilated through lack of available human hosts! Whichever comes first! Life and the economy needs to get back on track! I would really love to see family and friends and have a holiday! But not today! 👠
Jenny Burrell 