Once-a-day walking

Another day in paradise (thanks Phil). Before I start, please can I check; it is Wednesday isn’t it? Today I made a discovery I should have made years ago. I can walk to the beach from my front door. For a keen walker this is a serious confession but every morning for the last three years I have driven to the sea, had my chilly swim, then driven home again. The irony hasn’t escaped me that it has taken a restriction on time outside to make me want to abandon the car. Twenty minutes down the hill, thirty minutes back up and approximately six minutes in the water (well it’s only just April). Here are today’s Corona Diaries updates…

Corona diary updates

• I’m running out of chick peas. This is mainly because I keep making hummus. Which is mainly because I keep panicking about running out of cheese. Which is ridiculous because we have a lot of cows in Devon.
• I am so worried about running out of chick peas that I’m considering planting some. This is despite previous attempts ending with less chick peas than I actually planted.
• I discovered yesterday that chucking my baggy black knickers in front of a pair of attractive outdoor chaps does not meet current social distancing requirements. I should explain here that I was on the prom getting changed for my swim, and was only donning knickers because I had to walk home instead of drive. Which meant that when I pulled my trousers out I had forgotten they were in my bag. Also, it was a windy day.
• I now feel the urge to explain that I am continuing to swim in the sea once a day to help with the arthritis in my knees. And that I can walk to the sea from home. And that I am menopausal and likely to shout a lot if I don’t get my regular dose of cold water.
• I now feel the urge to explain that I needed to explain my swim because everyone (including me) is doing a lot of judging at the moment. Apparently even buying a bar of chocolate with your milk contravenes new expected behaviour norms. Obviously it wasn’t me buying chocolate, I only eat chick peas.
• I have been bending my usual ‘getting dressed’ rules. I am usually a pants first girl and can’t quite get away from this one but I have been pushing the boat out (perhaps a different metaphor) and putting my Buff (neck scarf thingy) on before my bra. I know! Radical or what!

Conversation of the day

Torquay harbour…

Total stranger with rucksack: Are you walking the South West Coast Path?

Me: No, are you?

Total stranger with rucksack: No

Total stranger with rucksack walks off…

Word of the day – Zoom

No longer an eighties song you secretly hope to hear at weddings . A few weeks ago Zoom was a video conferencing facility used by businesses to communicate without the use of aeroplanes. Now it’s a system for the masses, used to deliver pub quizzes, general chatter and even family feuds.

As my mum once famously said, ‘I wish we could bring back the old days when we all emailed each other.’