“When those in positions of power are incapable, it is the responsibility of the people to step up. We are in the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced” (Charles Worthington)
Rolling No More
Ankle issues persisting into the following week, I exercised carefully each morning and applied support when necessary. I progressed to being able to carry a full tray safely upstairs but not down. After the chores and blog-posting Monday, Iworked on the journal until head fug set in, tried to book an annual gas service but couldn’t log onto the website (for the umpteenth time) and went out for some air. Cleaning garden detritus that had been there for weeks, worms squirmed and rolled. I distributed them between the compost bin, our garden and the community garden. Painting Neighbour asked if I knew about the piano removal. “Yes, I have been informed.” “Do you know what time?” “No.” “It’s bin day tomorrow.” “Yes it is.” “What should we do?” “Leave them to sort it out.” A note posted through the door later told us the whole removal would take 3 days. “How much stuff do they have?” I wondered. “You know,” said Phil, “there’s the grand piano, the candelabra, the chandelier… after all, they are going to Barnard Castle. “But if they’ve already got all the gear, why do they need to move somewhere with shops?” Hot and tired from the sweeping, I unusually dropped off during a siesta, finding seeds on the pillow and clumps in my hair when coming to. I realised they were from willowherb, not forget-me-not. On the day the 3rd series of Britannia began on Sky Atlantic, we started watching series 2.
An NHS ad urged young people to get a vaccine. A government crackdown on cowboy firms offering tests led to 57 being removed from the approved list and 30 more scolded for misleading pricing. Lord Beefy Gammon Botham was appointed trade envoy to Australia. Trussed-up Liz said he would “bat for British business down under” (groan!) Piers Corbyn led anti-vax, anti-lockdown protesters to ITN’s HQ in Camden to hurl abuse at Jon Snow. The police went to remove them. At the start of 2 weeks’ action in London, Extinction Rebellion built a large pink table and invited people to come and talk, saying when those in power are incapable, the people must step up.
After he’d negotiated with the Taliban to not kill Americans, Trump said Uncle Joe made a mess of it. An animal rescuer in Afghanistan believed blame for the debacle fell squarely at Joe’s door and Boris did ‘an amazing job.’ Eh? Was that the same Boris who was on his hols when gunmen rolled into Kabul? Keir asked if the PM had personally spoken to Joe and whether there was a contingency plan to hold the airport with NATO allies after the Americans left. Newsnight reported more fighting near Panjshir Valley. In a Life of Brian moment I advised: “don’t be confusing the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan with the Afghan People’s Resistance Front or the People of Afghanistan’s Resistance Front!”
Painful indigestion mitigated against exercise Tuesday morning. Phil also had bad guts and accused me of feeding him too many vegetables. I sent my submission to Valley Life magazine, worked on the journal and went to the co-op for a small top-up. Virtually empty shelves and nothing at all in the reduced section suggested slower output due to staffing and supply chain issues, now entailed a vom shortage. I waited at the only open till as the woman in front on a mobility scooter produced an endless stream of snacks from paniers and baskets to put on the conveyor, then spent years rummaging in purses for the exact money.
The sun suddenly appeared in a hitherto grey sky making me hot as I trudged uphill but clouds returned by the time I got home. Exhausted, I gratefully accepted Phil’s help dealing with groceries, collapsed on the sofa and went to lie down. I rose to the sad news that ‘the engine room’ of the greatest rock group in history, Charlie Watts had died. Surely The Stones couldn’t roll on without him?
The Taliban viewed 31st August as a ‘red line’, with later evacuation attempts provoking ‘a reaction’. Mujahid warned it was “against the agreement after that…we will take a different stance.” Decrying crowding at Kabul airport as ‘dangerous’, he said Afghans shouldn’t leave and Americans shouldn’t encourage skilled workers to go while another spokesman urged them to ‘return to their homes and resume their calm, everyday lives’. Ben Wally said 6,000 were airlifted so far, the rescue effort could be down to hours, and it was impossible to stay when the US left. UNHCR chief Michelle Bachelet found reports of executions, restrictions on women and recruitment of child soldiers ‘credible’. G7 chairs of foreign affairs committees issued a statement imploring against arbitrary dates and artificial caps on evacuee numbers. Biden deigned to talk to other leaders for 7 minutes at the virtual summit. Appeals to the Taliban looked pointless.
Last Roll of the Dice
On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Phil went to Leeds. I went to the post-box, waylaid by the woman from next door sitting in a patch of sun next to our garden. During a brief chat, I mentioned Phil’s upcoming exhibition at a local café, she googled his work and said she’d have a look. After posting a card, I continued to Oxfam to rifle through books and DVDs and peered into the café at an artist friends’ paintings, noting limited wall space. I waited for a doddering couple on the steps, picked mint and returned home to rest. Phil got back just I sat down with a cuppa after eating. I went upstairs early to watch a rerun of The Rolling Stones at the BBC, set the alarm for 8 a.m., and struggled to sleep.
Coronavirus rates up nationwide, relaxed rules caused a ‘steady rise’ in Yorkshire & Humber. The Zoe Covid Study app showed vaccine protection waned after 6 months but Prof Finn assured us: “other studies are showing maintenance of good protection against serious illness and hospitalisation,” although monitoring any change was needed. Wales took children off the shielding list and Scotland hit a new daily case high of 5,000, a third of them among teenagers returning to school. Sharon Graham replaced Len McClusky as the first female leader of Unite, vowing to lead ‘a relentless fight for jobs, pay and conditions’. A quarter of firms now reported supply chain issues, from manufacture to supermarkets. Co-op CE Steve Murrells said food shortages were the worst ever. Blaming Brexit and covid, he’d reduced product range to ameliorate the situation. That obviously included vom! Tesco boss John Allan advised customers to shop early for Christmas and government to alter rules to allow for more overseas workers to come. While Subway had problems, Just Eat relocated services from India and Bulgaria to create 1,500 jobs in Sunderland.
The British had 48 hours to extract 2,000 interpreters and staff eligible under ARAP*, and an unspecified number of ‘special cases’ such as LGBTQ, judges and activists. Rabid Raab promised to use ‘every hour’ before the deadline. Americans reportedly turned away Afghans with special visas. So much for the end of ‘America First’! NATO adviser Charlie Herbert came on Newsnight to say we knew the Taliban’s track record: “Get them out!” While main news concentrated on Kabul, they reported on worse situations in other areas and ‘different Talibans’. When would they start shooting each other?
Knackered when the alarm sounded on Thursday, I forced myself up to bathe, do chores and work on the laptop before setting off for a meeting with the Valley Life owner. Not seeing her in the square, I visited a queue-less fish van before spotting her cross at the other end and sit outside the mill café. On catching up, I suggested we go out back. Over a cuppa, we had a general catch-up and talked shop, coming to a number of beneficial agreements. On mentioning my upcoming birthday she asked was it a special one. “No, that’s next year.” Unbelievably, she thought I’d be 50. “I’ve always looked young for my age, but I think 10 years is pushing it!” Exiting via the back gate, we bade each other thanks and goodbye. She went to meet her mum and I returned to the market for toiletries and veg. Finding a full kitchen sink back home, Phil responded quickly to calls for aid. After a short doss, I picked up the laptop again to send Valley Life a link to the research blog and write. In the evening, I began sewing a patch for a small rip on my favourite jeans, just above the one I’d recently done. All sorts going round my head that night, I used the meditation soundtrack and fell asleep quickly.
The latest PHE surveillance report said vaccines averted up to 109,500 deaths. Infections highest among 10-19 year olds and lowest in those over 80, elderly hospital admissions were still higher. Most in the West Midlands, Derriford hospital in Plymouth declared a critical incident. Rabid Raab claimed the sea was shut when he was in Crete – it sounded like an excuse parents gave to small children. The ‘last roll of the dice’ for holidays saw the lights change to green for The Azores, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Switzerland, red for Montenegro and Thailand, and amber for none.
A terrorist threat from ISIS -K (Khorasan) proved real with a suicide bomb explosion at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate and gun attacks at the Baron hotel. 160 killed included 12 US military. Ben Wally told MPs crossing the border was a ‘better option’ to flee Afghanistan and confirmed processing visas would cease 4.00 a.m. Friday. Newsnight showed a clip of Uncle Joe saying he wouldn’t stand for the murdering of Americans and they would respond when and where they chose out of a sense of responsibility. Where was his sense of responsibility before announcing the withdrawal date and leaving hundreds stranded? A Wild democrat congresswoman said her heart went out to service personnel, not mentioning the Afghani casualties! Oldham MP Debbie Abrahams resorted to informal networks to extract a friend. She wanted to know: ‘If there was a plan, why did it fail?”
Rolling Puns
Better sleep led to a brighter start Friday. I hung sheets on the line and went to the co-op. Amid continuing reports of shortages, prompting speculation the ‘Shortage of Occupation List’ review may be brought forward to address the HGV crisis, shelves were well-stocked. Maybe the CE’s plan had worked. The cashier who shared my hair shade remarked “I wish I had your colour.” “You do.” “It’s dyed.” “So is mine.” She looked incredulous, as was I at two compliments in as many days. Were they trying to butter me up? Phil met me outside to help carry bags. After lunch, I posted ‘Halifax Architecture 2’ on Cool Places 2i, cleaned the bathroom, started reading the book from Oxfam and tried to rest. Early evening, it looked like rain. I rushed out to fetch sheets, pulled at a few weeds and moved next doors’ director’s chair back to their front door just as the woman who lived there came home. She randomly complained of kids being forced to have vaccines. Having felt a connection with her, I was disappointed to discover she got her news from Facebook and was anti-vax. Attempts to counter her anecdotes with scientific fact were of no avail. Watching films and a series on Prime that night, we managed to not drink all the wine but stayed up too late.
Many areas across the UK experienced record high covid rates. The rise slower in England, 1,000 Latitude festival-goers subsequently tested positive. Leeds and Reading offering jabs to young festival-goers was all very well but didn’t Mr. Ben say his festivals were the safest place on earth? The limit for contactless card payments to be £100 from 15th October, some warned it would lead to more fraud, we warned of more drinking. Keir said the government had 18 months to prepare for withdrawal from Afghanistan and needed an urgent plan for those left behind ‘very much at risk’. He predicted chaos when NATO troops left with the Taliban incapable of forming a government and attacks from IS-K (who regarded them as filthy nationalists).
I awoke to dazzling sun Saturday morning with a slight hangover in spite of moderate drinking. Unrefreshed after bathing, I put a sundress on and made breakfast, slightly annoyed at wine glasses left in the living room and a stack of greasy pans in the kitchen. Phil’s movements seeming exceptionally noisy, I brushed off queries on what was amiss, took a deep breath and retreated to the sofa. After all, it wasn’t his fault I had a headache. He shared a post promoting a poetry book featuring his photos but couldn’t see it on his timeline while I inexplicably had several ‘likes’ for my Brexit Island page. I posted a cartoon so they’d have something new to look at (see above). Puzzling over the vagaries of Facebook, we concluded no one knew how it worked.
Forecast to be the best day of the bank holiday weekend, we made an effort to go out late afternoon. Heading to the location of music we’d heard earlier, the junior band were packing up on the Methodist Church lawn. We walked along the busy main street, dodging ridiculous queues for shops and cafés, spotted New Gran outside the corner pub and chatted from the other side of the wall. She was going to a gig later but still anxious, planned to stay outside the venue. Apparently, loads of pub regulars and staff had had Covid. “You’re not selling it to me!” I laughed. My ankle still not up to hill-climbing, we walked on the flat to the riverside at the far end of town, foraging for herbs and tiny courgettes in veg boxes. On the small humped bridge, Phil espied an abandoned garden implement in the water. “Someone’s thrown in the trowel!” he joked. A group of mountain bikers in daft cycling footwear navigated the cobbled steps in front of us. “Hilarity in shoes!” he quipped. “You’re rolling on the puns today!” “It’s doing that poetry lark.” We picked a few blackberries until the way was clear to a small hamlet and took a level path through woodland, littered with mushrooms of different shapes, sizes and colours. We stepped carefully across a small tributary and descended to the riverside and waited on the first ‘beach’ for a small group to vacate rocks so we could rest. Gazing upon the flowing brook, silver splashes indicated jumping fish. Leafy trees reflected in the iron-rich water. Ripples mesmerizingly reflected on the wall opposite. A couple of stoners ineptly climbed a barbed wire fence, not seeing a gate six inches away. A small dog followed a few minutes, trotting hither and thither. “Do you think the dog’s stoned too?” asked Phil. “No, just been scent the wrong way!” Hungry, we braved town, fought our way through a packed square to buy bread and hurried home (for a fuller description, see Cool Placesii)
Grey and cool Sunday morning, I woke twice early then slept late. Phil felt dozy after a similar sleep pattern. My ankle stiff after the walk, I performed a few stretches, applied support and stayed in to rest it. I edited photos, used one for a haigaiii, put some recycling out and painted what I hoped would be a final coat of aluminium paint on the cutlery caddy. Phil arranged for his café exhibition to start 1st September. Only a few days away, he’d have to crack on. The art friend whose paintings currently hung there had wangled a bit part as a wench in the upcoming TV drama The Gallows Pole – probably because her house would serve as coiner David Hartley’s abode. I’d seen a call for extras some weeks before but requesting young people, I’d dismissed applying. Another opportunity missed!
The last British plane from Afghanistan landed at Brize Norton. Lord Bristow exited alone. Abandoned Afghans had to navigate a complex system and have the right documents to get to a ‘third country’. ISK launched rockets towards Kabul airport. Intercepting drones killed civilians. The US claimed they were aiming for a suicide bomber and had disrupted an ‘imminent threat’. The defence sec later promised over-the-horizon counter-terrorism capabilities. What did that mean? Hurricane Ida brought a trail of destruction in Louisiana and the death of Lee Scratch Perry brought grief to reggae fans.
* Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy
References:
i. My Cool Places 2 blog: https://wordpress.com/posts/hepdenerose2.wordpress.com
ii. My Cool Places blog: https://hepdenerose.wordpress.com/
iii. My haigas: https://wordpress.com/posts/mondaymorninghaiga.wordpress.com
The Corvus Diaries 