Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Suggestions

Hi everybody! There are plenty of other people moaning about the difficulties of food shopping and the sadness of not seeing friends so I'm not going to do that. At least not today - who knows what I'll feel like in two weeks time.

This morning I just wanted to make two suggestions - one, that you think about all the people who are having an even harder time than you are. For example, have you considered that with people focusing on scooping up essentials for their own store cupboard, there'll be fewer donations made to foodbank bins in supermarkets? If you're someone who usually donates to them, please will you consider sending your local foodbank money? If you don't know the contact details of your local one, you can donate to the national foodbank charity - the Trussell Trust, here.

The second suggestion is about books to read. I expect most British readers have heard about the history of the village of Eyam, known as the plague village. It's five miles from where I live. It's known as the plague village because when the bubonic plague was raging in London in 1665, a parcel of infected cloth arrived in Eyam for the local tailor. Within a week his assistant was dead and other people were getting the plague. It swept through the village, and in the end, hundreds of villagers died.

After a suggestion from the local vicar, the people of Eyam agreed to quarantine the village to stop the plague spreading to neighbouring villages. Their self sacrifice worked. You can find out more on the net, of course, and next year when this nightmare is over you could visit the village itself, and the amazing and tiny plague museum. It may sound gruesome but it's fascinating. Until then, I heartily recommend the fictionalised account of the plague in Eyam called Year of Wonders, by the Pullitzer prize winning author, Geraldine Brooke.

Lastly, a burst of cheerfulness - Pulmonaria, flowering yesterday beside a track to the Monsal Trail - where, thankfully, I am still allowed to cycle, despite self isolation.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fluorescent Pussy Willow!
Ray of light,

Thea xx

Sue Hepworth said...

So glad you liked it!