In the throes of a late lunch, Tigger proposed a quick foray to Myddelton’s for coffee. We would have to hurry as they close on Sunday at 3pm and it was already nearly 2:30 and I was still only halfway through my sandwich.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way, as the proverb has it. Somehow, I swallowed the remainder of my sandwich, put on my shoes and struggled into my coat. (I must remember to buy a larger size next time.) We hit the street at 2:45.

We might have gone for a walk or perhaps taken our coffee to Myddelton Square Gardens had the conditions warranted but the weather was really not suitable. It was cold and there were drops of rain floating in the air.

Trees on the reservoir

Straight there and straight back?” asked Tigger. Yes, it was the only sensible course.

Still leaking

I don’t know whether you can see the movement of the water in this live photo but there is a perceptible flow emanating from the metal cover.

Into Amwell Street

We progressed into Amwell Street which is probably familiar to you by now. It is a pleasantly quiet street, especially on a Sunday, but for some reason attracts a fair amount of through traffic. Have you noticed an important recent change in the traffic from the pedestrian’s point of view?

I am referring to the increasing numbers of electric vehicles, not only electrically powered cars and vans but electric bicycles and that modern plague, the electric stand-up scooter. For the hearing-impaired, these constitute a danger because we don’t hear them coming. Yes, of course you should look both ways before stepping off the pavement but sound – specifically the sound of an approaching vehicle – is also important because vehicles can suddenly come around the corner or suddenly move off from being parked. The faster the vehicle, the greater the danger it constitutes. Scooters, in particular, being small, are easy to miss visually but can move surprisingly fast.

Looking along Inglebert Street
Photo by Tigger

In this photo of a familiar scene, you can gain an impression of the weather conditions.

Dispensing our coffee

We reached Myddelton’s well before the 3pm closure, better than last time when we crept in just after they had supposedly closed!

Stereo speakers

Do you need stereo speakers? If so, there’s a pair going begging. There’s no guarantee but the price is right (free!).

Palms in the doorway
Photo by Tigger

Being non-religious, I am vague about such things as dates of Christian (and other) religious festivals. It was only when Tigger took this photo of the church doorway that it occurred to me that today must be Palm Sunday. Placing palms in the doorway is another example of how Covid-19 has caused a rethink of behaviour patterns, not only in religious observance but in all aspects of our lives. It begs the question of whether, after Covid-19 (assuming we do actually conquer it), our habits will return to what they were before or whether some changes will become permanent. Perhaps churches, for example, will continue broadcasting their services via Zoom, for the benefit of the housebound and of those who simply prefer to “go to church” at home.

As for us, coffee in hand, we made for home where we shall spend the rest of the day relaxing unless some sudden inspiration prompts us to sudden activity.

Because the clocks have changed, I half-expected Sainsbury’s store to be thinly attended this morning, partly because some people would have forgotten to change their clocks and others would find it difficult to get up an hour earlier. In fact, the difference, if there was one, was unnoticeable. Either people are now better at remembering the clock-change or the prevalence of radio-controlled clocks means that their clocks and mobile phones “remember” for them.

All of our clocks but one are radio-controlled and the clocks of our computers and mobile phones also change without any interference from us. The one clock of ours that is not radio-controlled serves as a check that the hour has indeed changed.

Sunday in Pentonville Road

Until a few weeks ago, this would have been the usual appearance of Pentonville Road on a Sunday morning but today, it struck us as odd.

We had become used to the tailbacks causing solid ranks of barely moving vehicles along the whole of this section of the road. This was because repairs to the gas main near the traffic lights led to the closure of the inner vehicle lane. When we looked down the road today, we saw that the obstruction had been removed bringing a return to free-flowing traffic.

Chapel Market

We crossed through the market as we always do. The number of stalls was about what it has been throughout the latest lockdown. It will be interesting to see what happens on April 12th when restrictions on shops are lifted. Will there be an explosive expansion of the number of stalls or will some – or even many – traders have gone out of business as a result of being unable to earn income for so long?

The plant stall

The plant stall maintained its usual substantial presence in White Conduit Street. I am still uncertain as to whether they are theoretically allowed to trade under the current restrictions but, if not, then they have git away with it so far, and their efforts have been rewarded by having plenty of customers.

“Distanced” queueing at the checkout

Shopping at Sainsbury’s proceeded as it normally does, though on reflection, perhaps it was a little less crowded than usual.

Checkout queueing habits have changed during the pandemic. In the past, there would have been a separate queue for each checkout but these days, people form a single queue for each pair of checkouts and then, when it’s their turn, go to whichever of the two becomes free. If you don’t know about this then, because of “social distancing”, you may think that when a checkout becomes available it’s up for grabs. You then find yourself the object of verbal abuse for queue-jumping!

On my way to Mercer’s

As usual, I was seemingly ungallant and left Tigger with the shopping while I hurried ahead to Mercer’s to order our coffee. That task completed, we hurried home to drink our coffee, put away the shopping and plot our next move. What will that be? Well, we shall see, won’t we? 🙂

Today is the 28th day of March, 2021. More to the point, perhaps, it is the last Sunday of said month of March. This means, gentle reader, that it is the day when, according to current practice, the clocks go forward one hour. Yes, had you been awake at 2am this morning and watching your radio-controlled clock, you would have seen it spin the hands round to indicate 3am.

Every year, people are caught out by this and turn up to work or to church or to other assignations an hour late. It makes us lose an hour’s sleep which we shall not recover until the silliness is reversed on the last Sunday of next October.

Changing the clocks twice a year comes at a cost and disrupts the flow of life. Our metabolism is impacted and the effects are apparently long lasting.

Many countries have abandoned the practice of changing the clocks. The EU was discussing a proposition to abolish it but Covid-19 intervened. Once things return to some sort of “normal”, I think it quite likely that the EU will in fact discontinue clock-changing.

Why do we even do it? The oft repeated “reasons” are largely spurious and the product of over-active imaginations. Most commonly blamed are a group of folk labelled “farmers” who, supposedly, want to rise and hour later in winter than in summer. Fine, if they did wish to do this, nothing is stopping them. They can could do so without bothering the rest of us. In fact, farmers have made it clear that they would be quite happy if the clocks were permanently set to summer time.

The second most common piece of nonsense is that without putting the clocks back in winter “children would have to go to school in the dark, increasing chances of accidents on the roads.” This silly argument neglects to mention that said children will be returning home in the dark when they are, if anything, more prone to accidents, being tired and in a hurry.

Turn it whichever way you will and the arguments make no sense whereas leaving the clocks alone makes a lot of sense.

One idea that has been mooted in that of “splitting the difference”. We change the clocks by one whole hour. Why? No doubt because any amount of time less than an hour is considered unnoticeable. Right then, why not make one single, final change to the clocks, setting them 30 minutes behind current summer time? That is, why not set the clocks midway between summer and winter time and leave them there? By the above argument, the change would be unnoticeable.

In fact, I don’t think that there is really any point in engaging in such tinkering. Public opinion is swinging against clock- changing and more and more bodies (including “farmers”, as we saw) are stating publicly that they would be happy to remain permanently on what is currently called “summer time”. It only remains to convince the government to stop dragging its feet and to repeal the 1972 Summer Time Act.

Simple things, though, take an inordinate amount if time to accomplish when governments are involved.