Consolation

I can't be alone in feeling weighed down with all the news about the virus spread. There was a very sensible medical person in a government post (I think) on Radio 4 this morning, though it was too early in my day for me to have remembered his name or actual position; the interviewer asked him if he thought the media overhyped the whole thing and he agreed. And then I went to the chemist (for a regular prescription) and saw two packs of soap left on a shelf, three packets of paracetamol, and a sign saying there was no sanitiser available and felt low again. It doesn't help, mind, that I'm suffering from a severe dose of having overdone things this past week, and the after-effects of something eaten while I was away - something which affected three people I spoke to. 

But despite this we went out in the drizzle this afternoon. Benmore Gardens has opened again - not only after post-storm closure, but also for the new season - and I was amazed by the number of rhododendrons that are already in flower. Whatever else it produces in the world, nature continues to delight with moments like these. I'm blipping one of my favourite bushes, where the fairly small red blooms glow like drops of blood among the dark leaves.

And now I need to do a couple of Italian lessons ...