The First Post

Does anybody read the first post on a blog? Probably only a few people, which is a shame, since it's probably one of the places the writer had most to say - mainly about what motivated them to start a blog.

I'm not sure I've anything earth-shattering to say, though. It just feels like a good idea to type out the things that are on my mind.

My partner and I live in a village in the North of England. Not much happens here, which can be a good thing. It makes going for a walk across the fields into a great event which, of course, it is. Great things do happen from time to time. The rains come and the rivers flood. A few years ago, the Tour de France came past, not far away. However, most of the time very little happens to disturb the still surface of day-to-day life.

Take today. Like millions of other people I've been working from home. I only really work part time and I split the hours up - just a few, each morning, most days. I don't know where we'd be without the internet. Health problems have forced us to isolate ourselves from the world as much as possible since March. So far, so good. We're lucky that we have the resources, for now, to do this effectively. What it's like for those whose personal circumstances make it impossible to stay out of harms' way doesn't bear thinking about. Thankfully, with the vaccine roll-outs on the horizon, it looks like an end to this particular horror-story is in sight.

Lockdown started back in March and, since then, very little has changed for us. It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be - in fact, not a lot has changed! There have been times when we've felt like going out but the feeling passes. It's strange not eating out - but then I've quite enjoyed preparing all our food at home these last few months. 

One thing that has really helped both of us to get through this has been watching Inspector Montalbano on TV. I'm sure we're not the only people to escape the uncertainties of everyday life this year by transporting themselves daily to Montalbano's Sicily. It's a magical place, one minute almost too real, the next, dreamlike. The characters are great, too: Mimi, with his all-too-human weaknesses, the intriguing Ingrid and Fazio, a walking encyclopaedia, with his meaningful looks. Then there's Catarella who struggles with his words, is the butt of jokes and yet is not only a  whizz with the computer but also often intuits or provides the solutions to the cases. I've never enjoyed a crime drama series quite as much. Thankfully, every episode is available on BBC iPlayer.