November and December rolled on in much the same way as the rest of 2020, with our lives narrowed and simplified by Coronavirus. I took this photo on one of my morning walks with Poppy, the weather bright and misty for a change, instead of grey and damp. Sometimes I really miss those bright dry winter days in Puglia, where despite the cold wind if you can find a sheltered spot the sun starts to warm your bones.
Every day I check out the infection and deaths data on the UK Covid dashboard and the international one maintained by the New York Times. As the number of cases climbed relentlessly from early December it seemed inevitable there would be a new lockdown and Sue and I cancelled already tentative plans to spend Christmas in Devon with her sister Julie. In the end we stayed home and had a Christmas not unlike the last one, gorging on duck, Netflix and Quality Street.
Poppy has been oblivious to it all and such an enormous psychological asset over the last few months. Apart from providing us with the routine of dog walks and endless amusement she has also helped us make new friends on our morning walks, both dogs and humans, of which I must write more soon. Here she is snuggled down on a comfy cushion donated by an older neighbour, who bought it for her sons dog only to find it was too small. One morning she just came out of her house and asked if we wanted it. In return I gave her a copy of this photo to demonstrate what a successful gift it turned out to be.
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