And Once Again...

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The Carneddau & The Glyders from Pentir - Kel Harvey

 

 

Autumn's here and we've had a pretty raw end to the summer as yesterday's posts testify; and to cap it all, from 18:00 tomorrow, we're back in lockdown. A sensible move I approve of and I'm glad I live on this side of the Dyke, as things are markedly less confused about the pandemic in Wales than they are in England. Mark Drakeford is doing a solid, steady job as our First Minister whilst not politicking at a time of national crisis: a certain sign of someone whose political career is secondary to his political role; a distinction lost on so many so-called leaders, whose ambition far outstrips their ability or indeed will to govern with integrity. We shan't mind the two weeks of lockdown as we're fortunate enough to have the space for it not to be an issue. But we've seen the boys for the last time for the duration; shared birthday plans have been put on hold and our friends in Gerlan are still effectively shielding, hardly having ventured out of the house since March except to the local shop. We do a shop for them once a week at Lidl, something we will be permitted to carry on with during lockdown. We're all of an age where we have to be careful, but in compensation, age brings patience and a wealth of experience and education; and in our case a lifetime's worth of books and music to draw on. Add in the Internet, Freeview and a monster collection of DVDs, all the necessary distractions are in place. Plus and it's a very big plus, we've got our little corner of Snowdonia; a place of refuge in what to be quite frank seems an increasingly bizarre world. Our cottage in the hills truly is a gilded cage at times like these.

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