A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since I last posted, or at least, it seems so. I had a very busy week with lots of administration work to do and then, this Monday, we went for our vaccinations. Our appointment was for early in the morning: I deliberately opted for this, thinking it would be good to get it over with!
Mrs C and I had not been out together in the car for a long time so it was quite an experience for both of us. As usual with such things, it all turned out to be more straightforward than I expected.
We were in the building for what seemed like ages but was in fact just a few minutes. There were about twenty other people there, counting the staff. I can't speak for Mrs C but I know I felt pretty apprehensive as we've hardly been out at all for nigh-on a year.
It was my birthday yesterday. I actually had a great time. As I told one or two friends, what I actually wanted was a quiet day in with Mrs C. Since we've had plenty of those over the last year, it wasn't hard to arrange!
I've just finished reading Victoria Glendinning's biography of Leonard Woolf. It's a great book about an interesting life. Although he's mainly remembered as the husband of Virginia, he achieved a lot in his own right. A friend of Sidney and Beatrice Webb, he was closely involved in the shaping of the Labour Party. He also did a good deal to support Virginia Woolf through the ups and downs of her adult life. I suppose all good biographies throw up interesting, often humorous details. He took in a marmoset in need of a home which became devoted to him and lived on his shoulder for years. In the thirties, if he found he had an unused diary from the previous year, he'd go through it, changing all the numbers next to the days to fit with the current year. He lived to an old age and, although famously irascible, seemed to attract a lot of devoted friends.
I also started watching a series of documentaries made by Adam Curtis, Can't Get You Out of My Head (2021). This was the first. It left me feeling moved to stick with the rest of the series:
A belated Happy Birthday and wishing you both no uncomfortable side effects from the vaccine.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Felt a bit tired after the jab for a couple of days but no big deal. Just enough of a side effect to let me know it was doing something! Quite reassuring really.
DeleteHappy Birthday! Congratulations also on you both getting your vaccination. Tom and I got our first one last week. The biography of Leonard Woolf sounds quite good. I imagine he would have been an interesting person to know.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Regarding LW - it was striking to note how even though he was notorious for losing his temper, to know the mature LW was usually to love him.
DeleteHappy Birthday! So glad you and Mrs C got your first vaccines. Hope it all goes well for your both. I got my first shot last Friday and second one is scheduled for April 2nd.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story about Leonard Woolf. Now I'm going to have to google around to see if there is a photo of him and his marmoset friend.
The story of LW and Mitzi the marmoset is one of the highpoints of the book, I think.
DeleteI didn't know of his connection with the Labour Party.
ReplyDeleteYou learn something every day.
DeleteSo much of the water flowing under the bridge was reading!
ReplyDeleteHa! Indeed! Some of the best kind of water.
DeleteGood to know that your wish for a quiet day with Mrs. C was granted. Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteAnd it was great. Day after, I realized I'd really enjoyed doing - not a lot. Pre covid, we'd have probably 'done something'. One of those lockdown silver linings: rediscovering the pleasure of just being (if you're lucky enough to be in the kind of circumstances where you can).
DeleteGlad your vaccination went well, hope you haven't had side effects
ReplyDeleteFelt a bit tired for a day or two. Just enough to reassure me it had actually gone in, which was quite good really.
DeleteSlowly life comes back to the old order, I bet both of you feel happier now the first vaccination has taken place. Belated Happy birthday.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Vaccination was a lightening of a weight on the mind - a weight one was hardly aware of until it was lightened.
DeleteThere was an interesting Radio 4 semi auto bio by the Woolfe daughter a few weeks ago and it was a very complex family dynamic! Enjoying John Rodgers walks which I alternate with Joolz Walking Guide for a more light hearted view on some of the London locations and histories!
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