
I’m currently doing a lot of cleaning of shelves, a job that also involves sorting whatever lives on those shelves.
I’m making phone-calls to friends, some to friends abroad I don’t often get to speak to, some to elderly friends I think might be feeling lonely in the current circumstances.
I am continuing with my writing. The story I’m working on right now is about a man who, as a boy, was conspicuously shorter than his friends and stayed shorter than the norm as the years went on.
I am thinking about which publishers to contact to see if I can interest one or other in taking on the collection of stories in my recently self-published book, The Uses of ‘a’.
I am walking round our garden, enjoying seeing what’s coming up, admiring what is already up and attending to the occasional weed.
I am taking a daily walk. It’s generally a short one because my left leg remains painful. But, hey, at least it’s a walk.
I am turning to the Guardian crossword each day. It’s the Quick Crossword I attempt, sometimes with good success, sometimes with almost none.
I am also doing some reading. The book I’ve just begun is another Thomas Hardy novel, A Laodicean. It’s one of his least known. I’d never been aware of it at all until recently.
I cook supper every evening. The cooking is currently not inventive, but at least I put my mind to it.
And, dear friends, I am bored. I can admit it. I must admit it. Bored out of my mind. It’s the staying at home that does it – or as close to home as the powers-that-be have instructed. (more…)