Written the following day, 121, Saturday 25th July, 11.21 hrs.
It feels like a long while since I slept in the same room for one hundred and twenty consecutive nights. And even, when I travelled on the QM2 World Voyage of 2018, and was away for 120 nights, four of those were spent in hotels in South Africa and Canberra, Australia on “overland tours”. This recent such spell, felt a jolly sight longer in time than during that glorious voyage a couple of years ago.
Yesterday therefore had to be more than just another day in lockdown. In the morning, the arrival of the window cleaner ensured that I didn’t linger in bed until midday. (Oh! How I love retirement!). Not being allowed to be in at the same time that the inside windows were being attended to, I ventured over the road to my neighbour’s where I was welcomed with coffee and biscuits. We would, later in the day, explore, further, the dramatic countryside which is close to the town of Tideswell.
My right knee has been becoming increasingly troublesome recently, although I can still manage stairs with little problem. Both on Tuesday when catching the faintest glimpse of Comet Neowise, and Yesterday, I am discovering things which once came naturally, I now struggle with at considerable embarrassment to myself. I am far less sure-footed on steep uneven surfaces than I remember, and getting up from ground level, unaided, I now find is almost impossible. Nevertheless, I am not deterred from exploring much further than I ever did during my working life. In fact, yesterday’s walk wasn’t very long, perhaps just over two miles. There were hills, but these were much more gentle than some I have tackled recently. After walking in the direction of the wooded hills illustrated, we came across a narrow but well maintained road which was part of our route. We stopped to admire a cow with calf in a field adjacent to the narrow road.
A young farmer approached, and explained that he had delivered the calf at around 11am. By now, the calf should have been able to stand, but seemed to be struggling in the first hours of its life. (I could empathize there!). I never knew, (why should I), that a newly born calf can be standing on its own feet within around twenty minutes. The farmer then assisted the calf into a standing position, the young animal letting out what I would imagine to be its first “moo”.
All-in-all, a very pleasant afternoon, a million miles from the normal routine of getting through the day, except, possibly, for the farmer, part way through his daily fifteen hour stint.
I completed the day, tidying up at home, and watching some T.V. My brief return to Coronation Street did not leave me compelled to find out “what would happen next”. I did, however, watch the first in a series of ‘Channel 5″ documentaries charting the opening in Dubai of the QE2 as an hotel, billed as the “most luxurious in the world”. I suspect the owners of the 7 star Burj Al Arab would beg to disagree! I did, in fact, stay at the QE2 in Dubai for three nights last year, and was very pleased with my room on Deck 2, the service, enthusiasm of all the personnel, and the way the ship had been re-purposed to an hotel. I hope their ambition to have the entire ship “up and running” comes to fruition in the not too distant future. Unfortunately, Dubai is land of astonishing sights and palatial hotels, which competes for attention. Personally, if I needed to be in Dubai, I would indeed stay at the QE2, albeit rather a long way from the “centre of things”. I have always stayed on board the Queen Mary in Long Beach when passing through southern California. I’m not sure I like much of the gimmicky stuff on board the Queen Mary, but there remains that rare opportunity to explore much of the once “Stateliest Ship in Being”. I hope I’ll be back there for one last time, rather like in 2019!
A little bit of looking back, then.
Many thanks for reading, David, 12.49hrs 25th July 2020.
David's Cruise 