OAKERS STAYING IN TOUCH

GERRY WESTOBY RIDGEWAY 1956-61 OAKER-IN-CHIEF

felt like a team effort in raising spirits amongst this motley crew of OMs.

This has been a time when I have considered my own mortality. It was brought home to me when my cousin Nicki’s husband died very suddenly from Covid-19 in April. She worked in the office at Belmont for many years. I spoke to her recently and the pain and the grieving process is still there in a big way. It has been very tough for so many people.

For the first time in decades, millions of people have been facing the same health concerns. I suppose everyone is slightly anxious about venturing outside, fearful of picking up the germs, despite socially distancing and wearing masks. It is the sign of the times.

However, I am an optimist. I cannot abide the naysayers and prophets of doom everywhere in the media. If you buy what they are selling, you’ll end up convinced that there is no hope. They wheel out these so-called ‘experts’ who have the benefit of hindsight and blame everybody but themselves. They all do it, politicians, scientists, religious leaders and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. That is why I seldom watch the news.

It’s Murphy’s Law, which states, “Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you expect and if anything can go wrong, it will – at the worst possible moment”. Nevertheless, I have rather enjoyed spending time at home and not spending money on fripperies, but steering it more towards charities like Captain Tom, Cancer and Dementia. I would be grateful if your thoughts or prayers could be directed towards any Oaker or Old Millhillian who you know, is suffering from ill-health or bereavement at the moment. We do know about a few.

Even now, as life returns to something like normality, maybe it won’t be quite the same again. There are so many areas where changes to one’s way of life may become the ‘norm’. One of the bright spots in this bleak year is the reminder that friends and neighbours are not just for lockdown, but for life. However, having said that, the Welsh Police weren’t very friendly when I drove through a village called Friog at 35mph, which had a 30mph speed limit while on holiday. So, I went on a speed awareness course on Zoom. It took 2 ½ hours instead of the usual four hours; it also cost less than a speeding fine. Let’s hope they continue to do it that way!

Finally, I hope my ramblings won’t mean that I will be ‘cancelled’ by the ‘woke brigade’. I won’t be ‘taking the knee’ because I can’t kneel anymore. What is an algorithm? I thought it was a musical term, until I looked it up in a dictionary. Maybe it would be a good idea to read Rudyard Kipling’s ‘IF’ again …‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you’ ...etc!