I slept for nearly nine hours and woke up to bright sunshine. Lately I've not been waking early, or if I do, I go back to sleep while waiting for 'Thought for the Day' on Radio 4. I make a point of listening on BBC Sounds catch-up before I get up. It's useful to be able to roll back a live broadcast, and it works well.
I learned from a local news item today that Blackweir Bridge repairs are nearly complete and it will re-open next week. I also learned that the bridge isn't part of the City Council's estate, but the University which funded construction and maintains it. It wasn't closed due to the pandemic, as I presumed, but due to minor structural damage that made it unsafe. Repairs took couple of weeks, but the best part of a year to agree to get done, though there's been no hurry to complete. The public is much better informed and prepared to be cautious crossing the bridge now, socially distanced, in single file - hopefully!
I was pleased to see a photo of Fran's icon of St David appear in this week's Parish Sway newsletter. I've written Monday's reflection on the icon and a discursive prayer which I'd like to record in St Catherine's if I get an opportunity when we go to church tomorrow to join in the pre-reopening spring-clean.
For the second day running I've taken my Sony Alpha 68 DSLR camera out walking with me. It's such a lovely camera to use, I find that I take far more photos with it when I'm out in good shooting conditions. Its weight with a long lens is the only disadvantage, three times as heavy as the Olympus. If I had a long and a broad lens for the Olympus that were together as good as my versatile Alpha mount telephoto, the Olympus would be a match in terms of photo quality, and much lighter by design. The equivalent lenses, even second hand are pretty pricey on a low budget. Clare keeps asking what I am going to do with all the pictures I take. If I could decide on interesting themes to select, I could compose photo books to use as gifts or even for sale as coffee table items. Trouble is, I'm no better with the idea of seeking a market than I am seeking an audience for my writing. Fear of failure? Fear of not being noticed? I wonder why?
Another interesting episode of 'New Amsterdam' to watch on catch-up tonight, with an interesting little vignette of what happens when a medic pursues a concern about the health of drug addicts and provision of safe managed injection places in a world where doing this is against the law. The forces of law and order are unable to punish adequately or eliminate the international chain of illegal drug suppliers. Drug addiction is a major global public health issue. Why drive users underground and into crime when with the right support they can be helped to get lives and health in order and weaned off drugs?
This approach has been shown to work in places where licensed supervised clinics have been set up. It's hard to understand why advocates of law enforcement are reluctant to change strategy, unless they are addicted to playing 'cops and crooks' never really succeeding in winning. Addicts are in a way victims of the consumer culture the world has created, but treated as perpetrators. It doesn't have to be like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment