Bit of a ramble today.  I was going to start by saying that today is just another day and in many ways I guess it is.  And as this pandemic crisis continues to unfold I`ve noticed that the days have taken on a different `feel` - for us elderly pensioners still struggling to survive on fixed incomes in unprecedented financial times, the pace of life seems to have lessened a bit.  Maybe that`s just part of getting older, things taking longer to do, but the urgency that there used to be in the good old pre-lockdown days has diminished to a more gentle tempo. 

I`ve noticed too that, when I`m out taking Dudley for his walkies around the parish, people are keeping their distance - the two-metre rule is alive and well hereabouts - and people seem more `courteous,` more `polite` than before.  Either that or they are more determined to give a wide berth to this shambling figure trudging his way through life?

But you get up in the morning, turn on the TV news and it strikes me that the rustic parochial attitudes locally are in sharp contrast to those shown by television `presenters.` Best example was this morning when some hapless government minister was `interviewed` on BBC Breakfast about his hapless government policy by the self righteous Naga Munchetty who seems to have turned interviewing into something more akin to interrogation.  It`s reached the point where you begin to wonder who is in charge these days - the politicians or the media.

Another example was yesterday when it was reported, again on BBC News, that `a quarter of those tested positive for Covid 19 could not have their contacts traced.....`  or something.   Which meant that three quarters could - a 75% success rate.   But no, let`s hear about the bad news shall we?  Let`s accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive and apply Johnny Mercer`s classic lyrics in the way that suits the agenda.  It`s all very tiresome.

In other news, I was genuinely sorry to learn of Dame Vera Lynn`s passing.  I suppose she was one of the first `personalities` I became aware of as I was growing up during the Second World War.  I have vague recollections of hearing her singing on the old steam radio, along with other celebrities during those dark times - Tommy Handley, ITMA, Charlie Chester and Uncle Mac`s early evening programme for children - "Goodnight children - everywhere."  The negative is, of course, that Dame Vera has left us but the positive is that she gave so much to so many for so long.  The song may have ended, but the melody will linger on.

Maybe tomorrow will be a little brighter?