Friday has arrived, once again like it always does, but it feels like it's worth celebrating. I finish work for two weeks today, some much needed time away from it. There are so many things going on there at the moment that it's impossible to know where to begin. The shift from teaching online to teaching back in the classroom, with the mass testing of over a thousand teenagers and then re- integrating them back into classrooms and routines, plus all the ongoing discussions about how grades are going to be awarded, has been hard work. It's clear that for many of them extended periods in lockdown and time out of social situations has had a big impact. Some time away from everything is what everyone needs.
I came off my bike last weekend. Cycling along a country lane near Tatton Park I hit a pothole and was on the tarmac before I had time to do anything about it. The right hand side of my body hit the ground, knee first, then hip, shoulder and ankle. Apologies if you're not good with blood but this is what my knee looked like when I got home.
Luckily my bike was fine- I cunningly cushioned it with my body- so I was able to cycle home, blood dripping down my leg. When I cleaned it up it wouldn't stop bleeding so I went to A and E and was treated, grit washed out of the wound, X- rays done as a precaution and steri- strips applied to close the wound (the nurse said that she couldn't stitch it as the wound was too jagged and I'd left too much of the skin somewhere on the road in Cheshire). I have been hobbling round all week as a result. Several people have pointed out that they told me that exercise is dangerous and one family member asked me if I should be doing these things at my age.
So that's the status updates from my life. The clocks go forward this weekend and there has been the occasional bit of blue sky. The sun came out once or twice. From Monday we're allowed to have people in our gardens. Maybe things are looking up (I'm aware that as I type these words the words 'third wave' are becoming a media currency). Ten years ago Glass Candy, an Oregon duo made up of Johnny Jewel and Ida No, released their Italo- disco single Warm In The Winer, a giddy, ecstatic, endorphin rush of a record. Over some euphoric, Moroder- esque arpeggiated synthlines singer Ida coos about 'love in the air' and being 'sunny on the inside/ Crazy like a monkey (ee ee ooh ooh!!)/ Happy like a new year'. A more uplifting and life affirming song you will not hear today.
5 comments:
Not that it would have made a blind bit of difference, by the sounds of it, but were you clipped in to pedals? I only ask as I made the switch about a year ago, and it has made me more cautious, especially through corners at speed. Or maybe I'm just getting older and more aware of my increasingly brittle body...
Ouch! (understatement) - that looks awful. Hope it heals up quickly, SA. I'm troubled by thoughts of you skin left on the road too...aargh... but will make a meal for a hungry magpie or fox perhaps!
Ha! Thanks C, I hadn't considered my skin becoming wildlife food.
Martin- I was clipped in but I've had them for years so I don't think they made a huge difference.
Just to cap a fine week I got to my car in the staff car park at the end of the day and it wouldn't start. Had to wait for assistance.
Oh dear Adam, sounds like you've been right in the thick of it. I feel for the kids whose childhoods have been temporarily stolen by Covid, but also feel for all the teachers who now have to make sense of all that confusion and steer them back on the path to adulthood. A mighty task indeed. Hopefully the wounds heal quick - more daylight and better days ahead (not to mention lots of music to look forward to).
I don't know what made me wince more: the biking injury or your (familiar) description of workplace woes. You have my sympathy for both.
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