A wee walk ...

One of the programmes I've begun revisiting in this time of re-runs and lack of new episodes is The Bridge - in fact, I'm beginning to wonder if I've actually not seen the first series at all. And of course on our last holiday, which I realise was a whole year ago, we actually saw the eponymous bridge as we sailed between Denmark and Sweden at sunrise and were up early because we'd crossed a timeline in the night. I recalled both these things this morning as we set off with our family to walk across the old Forth road bridge to Fife, and also remembered when I first saw this particular bridge over 50 years ago, when the bridge was new and my relationship with Mr PB was new and all the world was young ...

I had great chats with both my grandsons as we walked: with James on the outward walk and with Alan on the return. They're great when you get them to yourself - ask brilliant questions, lead me into telling them stories about my time teaching, my time at school, come up with such knowing comment that they make me laugh. (On spotting a classic old Citroën far below in South Queensferry: "How did Citroën get from that to boring beige cars?") 


And now I'm home again. All four grandchildren return to school this week, we don't know when we'll see them again. A visit like this had the effect of pulling us out of the all-too-easy trap of isolation and making me at least forget for long spells at a time that there is still this asterisk virus to avoid. I think city-dwellers had it much harder when we were avoiding all contact simply because there are so many of them, but now I was aware of a considerable degree of normality in the way people were moving around and interacting. The only new thing was the constant fishing in the pocket for a mask before any attempt to go into a shop; I didn't feel that people were bothering much about getting out of each other's way in crowded walkways or pavements. And the bikes remain a lethal hazard should you deviate from your narrow left-of-the-path allowance ...

Blipping the new Forth Road Bridge, taken from the old bridge. It's such an elegant structure, soaring across the Firth with small boats dwarfed beneath it. It's been a lovely weekend.

Thanks to all the lovely blippers who dropped in to wish me well on whatever strangely-numbered blipversary I've just had!