2020 in retrospect

2020 in retrospect (or Mike's Rant)

As the year ends we realise that we are having to get used to a new "normal". As long as the virus remains endemic and we remain unvaccinated, we shall run the risk of catching it. So the Pitchers will greatly reduce our sociability and get used to each others exclusive company. Fortunately we seem to be able to cope. But we will miss occasional restaurant meals, visits to the cinema and indoor meals with friends and, of course, our immediate family.

I realised how close it all is when the man who dialysed in the bed next to mine caught the virus and died, all in three days.

One positive result of all this has been that there seems to be more money in the bank and we have taken the opportunity to invest in our home through equity release. Pam explains what we are doing under the heading "Sandycot" on the menu above.

However, I am not trying to alarm you but I observe that the new normal does not require a high street full of department stores. I have found no one with a good word for Philip Green. If we can remove citizenship from a naive teenager surely we have no room for people like him. Let him stay in Monaco!

People of a certain age, like us, probably prefer a rugby match streamed into their living room instead of shivering in a stadium while desperate for a hot drink. Certainly, watching Wasps is much easier for us when streamed.

The emergence of virtual meetings via Zoom makes the cost justification of HS2 look ever more specious while the roadworks around Aylesbury, to support its construction, become ever more intrusive into our daily lives. My journey to dialysis now takes two or three extra minutes three times a week. But that, and countless intrusions into other people's daily lives, has not been built into the cost justification. Still, I acknowledge that we have lost that battle and that many major infrastructure projects, like HS2, will be necessary to help get the economy going again.

RIP (Val Smith, Ken Elphick and Sheila Greenfield)

Val Smith

Val died in the Autumn after a long illness which appeared to mistify the medical profession. We felt for Keith who, because of Covid-19 restrictions, was unable to visit her until just before the end. Her house remains decorated with examples of artwork of dachshunds and terriers representing a succession of doggie companions. For Keith and Barney (the latest in a long line) the new normal must be trying indeed. We have known them for 33 years, longer than I have been a Rotarian, and will miss Val's peculiar sense of fun. 

Ken Elphick

My path had crossed with Ken's over the years. As Diageo pensioners we had both worked in the extensive Grand Metropolitan group. We were both active members of Monks Risborough Horticultural Society and he was one of Rotary's Paul Harris Fellows in recognition of the magnificent work he did bringing help to African children, principally in Tanzania. He too died very swiftly and we are thinking of Judy as we enter this period of so-called celebration.

Sheila Greenfield (nee Cross)

Pam met Sheila age six at Bromley Road Primary school and went on together through Worsley Bridge and James Allen's Girls School. With four other JAGS friends, they kept in touch with visits to her home in America when possible and always meeting up when she came to the UK. Sadly she developed Parkinson's many years ago and for a long time managed it with medication. However she eventually succumbed and died on 1st January this year. She will be greatly missed when current restrictions next allow 'Ladies who Lunch' again.