On Becoming a Hermit, Sort of ... Day 38

Day 38
(Thursday, 23rd April 2020)

Unusual day today, in that I spent no time at my desk writing. After our usual half hour Tai Chi session, we had coffee then I went straight out into the garden to do some work on the paths in the lower garden. Following that I was needed to make B’s greenhouse bench, where she does her potting, planting out seeds etc. more secure. Following that and some lunch, I was needed by the reclining chair, where I read for while and then promptly fell asleep!

Was then woken by a FaceTime call from our eldest in Torquay. The three Nicholson grandchildren were spending a considerable time in their 2,000 litre ‘paddling’ pool. Our cheerful conversation was punctuated by the occasional tears, banged head and other inevitable knocks from boisterous playing in water. So normal life prevails amidst the surreality of the day.

Today is St George’s Day and William Shakespeare’ birthday. It occurred to me that I ought to celebrate this day with a bit of blank verse or a sonnet, with some good old iambic pentameter. So much influence did he have on the English language that there are countless turns of phrase and idioms we routinely use that he is responsible for. So I shall pause and go and find something suitable to honour the Bard.

The music for today, that Clemency Burton-Hill has chosen in her "Year of Wonder" is "How Sweet the Moonlight" from the Merchant of Venice by Jocelyn Pook. She, like many composers before her (Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Prokofiev, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and Bernstein to name but a few) has chosen text from William Shakespeare, whose birthday it is today. Pook wrote the score for The Merchant of Venice (2004), which Clemency describes as renaissance with a modern twist.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank

Here will we sit and let the sounds of music

Creep in our ears. Soft stillness and the night

Become the touches of sweet harmony

~~~

However you may be affected by anything I've written about, do leave me a comment below or, if you prefer not to, talk to a loved one, a friend or someone you trust.