In pursuit of the uncertainty principle

Finally, I've caved, no amount of scenario modelling, contingency planning or nocturnal machinations will enable us to 'game the system' to ensure we are somewhere in the sunny south by mid-January. The combination of the effects of a mutating virus, chaotic government and the likelihood of a period in January where  'no deal' chaos reigns means it is impossible to second guess tomorrow never mind next month.

Last Wednesday Boris called a news conference asserting it would be 'inhuman' to cancel Christmas, three days later he did exactly that citing the virus mutation as the game-changer. Within 24hrs most of the near continent closed its borders to travellers from the UK, France going one step further, banning all HGV traffic too. The result, early onset no deal Brexit...

Whereas we had been gearing up for seven of us to be gathered here at Christmas, now there will be four. At least we managed to post Matthew, Laura and Connor's presents to them in time for them to arrive before the 25th. Now plans centre around scheduling Zoom calls to fit everyone's Yuletide habits. Mid afternoon could be a good common time. Let's face it, we Turpies are individualists with very different personalities, however there is no way any of us could be deemed monarchists, 3pm is definitely a possibility Zoom-wise. Anyway, a useful précis of this year's Queen's speech has already been leaked on Facebook.

The other day I found myself ruminating about how the pandemic has been a gift to the Tories. Their hold on power is strengthened by playing on people's fears, prejudices and anxieties. It is difficult not to  conclude that the government's messaging is a clever mix of fact and fiction using inconsistency as a ploy to wrong foot critics. Maybe I have simply become cynical and curmudgeonly, I wondered. Then the next day's Guardian articulated a similar thought much better than I ever could:

"The virus thrives on indecision. Johnson’s method is effective for one thing, though: it guarantees a sustained pitch of political drama, with the figure of the prime minister lit centre stage. It forces the nation to hang on his word, waiting for him to act, while the consequences of his inaction play out. That bathes him in an aura of power, but it is not leadership." Rafael Behr

In the meantime the rain pours down, darkness falls by early afternoon, people get on with life as best they can hoping for better times. Hardly  the promised  sunny uplands. Buxton, December, early afternoon, the Gregg's socially distanced lunch queue... says it all really.

I know, from a personal view point our 2020 has been uneventful in comparison to others. No-one in the family  succumbed to the virus, no one has been furloughed or suffered redundancy, none of our kids is a front line worker, all of them can work from home. As for us, we managed a two month trip to Iberia last January and February and escaped for six weeks to Italy in the early autumn. Our big building project over the summer was challenging, but was finished on time without a major hitch. It's important to acknowledge the positives. Still, I am a traveller, happiest with the thought that next week I will be elsewhere, these days of lockdown will pass. As soon as we can head off again we will.