The Difference A Year Makes
It’s not always easy to stay positive and optimistic during this COVID lockdown, a mood not helped by an extremely dreary English winter as our weather does its absolute best to justify its bad reputation. Whilst some parts of the UK have witnessed significant snowfall, our South East corner has been deluged with what seems like incessant rain, borne out by this detail: January brought 151mm of rainfall when the historical average for that month is 50mm. Three times normal, and it feels like it, too.
Many days have been simply too wet to take a walk, and the countryside is now so saturated that the fields and footpaths are largely impassable. Not a great time to be stuck at home!
How different from a year ago, when we had just retired, at Christmas, and the world was at our feet as we started what we thought would be 3 or 4 years of non-stop adventure. That adventure started on 29th January as we headed first to Bangkok for what was meant to be 4 months in South East Asia but turned out to be 7 weeks before the pandemic sent us scurrying for home.
On this day, 3rd February, our day started before dawn as we headed out for an early morning market breakfast, and then by train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, where we stayed for a couple of days. Kanchanaburi is home to the war grave cemetery and museum each commemorating those who lost their lives building the Burma Railway, aka Death Railway.
Just outside town is the famous Bridge on the River Kwai, still a railway bridge but nowadays a bit of a novelty tourist destination which pays more homage to movie makers than it does to those who lost their lives. Consequently we found the cemetery and museum distinctly moving, the bridge area less so. Having said that, a train rumbling over the creaking bridge is a sight to behold for anyone with even so much as a passing interest in trains.
In the end in 2020 we didn’t do too bad, managing 148 days travelling in a year when travel was uniquely difficult. 2021 is off to an altogether different start: waiting for vaccination, waiting and longing to travel once again.
And watching the rain.
5 Comments
Andrew Petcher
Dreary here too in Grimsby.
Gilda Baxter
I can totally relate to how you feel. We have also retired with dreams of traveling extensively and 2020 did not turn out as we had planned. We should have been in South America right now, but our plans are now on hold, so I think 2021 will also not going to be as planned . We decided that it is best not to plan anything at the moment, so as not to be disappointed. On the bright side we are healthy and looking forward to getting our vaccine. Spring will arrive soon, keep well.
Joe
I’m sure you are missing your daily walks in the countryside. The copious rain and waterlogged trails must only be compounding your lockdown frustration. Just getting outdoors, breathing the fresh air, and elevating the heart rate seems to be the only antidote for the annoying pre-vaccine pandemic restrictions. Despite the snow, I have been hiking daily in the mountains behind our home. It is the only thing keeping me sane right now. Spring and summer can’t come soon enough.
Annie Berger
I loved the contrast in your photos between rain-soaked home now and the memory of sunny days a year ago in Thailand. Yikes – 151 mm of rain sounds like an extra burden to bear on top of having to stay put due to the pandemic. I hope you see sunnier days ahead and also get the vaccine. We’re extremely lucky here in Colorado as Steven got his first shot two weeks ago and I’m getting mine today – ahh, one of the few advantages of getting ‘old’ but I will take it!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Annie. Great news you will have both had a vaccine by the end of today! We have a while to wait yet but expect to have had our first one by the end of April then we will have to wait for the second jab before thinking of travelling abroad.