State of Alarm - day Seventy Five

A warm night, broken but relaxed sleep, awakening to a cloudy day with a warm wind, tolerably humid. The wound is quiet almost pain free, still a little swelling, but I am feeling better than I have done for several weeks This is indeed 'watch and wait' time as Dr Jordan would say. Will it continue to improve or deteriorate? I returned to bed after breakfast, and thought about this week's Bible Study about which I've done nothing yet.

Chapter 20 looked promising so eventually I got up and started writing a reflection on its content. I was surprised at how quickly it came together. I had a recording done, and sent to Dave for uploading by half past one.

I cooked lunch for Anthony and myself. Having someone other than myself to feed for a change was a pleasure, ensuring that I sat down to eat. Nice that I can sit long enough to eat once more without much discomfort or pain.

After a siesta and a long chat with Clare, I walked down to the sea near Cala de Bou, then along the  coastal track to Cala des Torrents. Because the foreshore is rocky and inhospitable, there's a huge water-park on the land behind it. On the sea side there's a narrow 100m long splash pool with about twenty apartments facing directly on to the pool, each with its own set of steps. You can get out of bed, if you're a kid, and run straight into the water. The pool is in winter emptiness at the moment and won't be filled until holiday-makers arrive and apartments are booked.

The Cala des Torrents beach looked almost normal with a dozen families out enjoying sun sand and sea, all locals. Some wooden sunbeds had been put out. I think a beach cafe was open but nobody was sitting outside imbibing. Opening of bars and restaurants is happening slowly cautiously and according to government lock-down de-escalation rules.
 
On my return walk, up a long unmetalled road past a large urbanizacion, a man of my age stopped his car, smiled and offered me a lift, I thanked him and declined, explaining 'Yo camino para mi salud' which he acknowledged with another smile and went his way. I guess he was feeling in good spirits with the signs of a return to normality, and maybe just wanted someone to chat to.

It was lovely to hear happy sounds and see children playing on the beach, with not harsh voice of rebuke.  I hope it stays like that.

Precautions

What a windy day today was!

Even so, I walked up to Es Cuco, and then downhill from there to Cala des Torrentes, another built up resort with an even better beach and La Cala de Bou, half an hour's walk from the house instead of three quarters of an hour.

After lunch I took the car out for an hour and a half's drive, visiting St Antoni and St Josep. Over the past eighteen months since I was last out of the UK I have driven very little, and was pleased to find that I had no difficulty in adjusting to driving on the opposite side of the road. It's a boost to confidence, that's for sure.

English and Welsh Bishops have issued a directive to with-hold offering the chalice to the laity as a precaution against the Coronavirus epidemic. Communion by intinction has also been discouraged I've been discussing with Churchwarden Rosi what this means for services in Ibiza, which thus far is infection free. Some recognition of the need to take precautions is highly desirable. Recouncing  the physical sharing of the peace is one step. Rigorous and visible hand-washing is another. With-holding the chalice is yet another gesture, but what is under discussion is adopting intinction as a universal practice, for the time being. The choreography isn't easy, but we can learn by doing.

As the sun was setting, I went out for another walk along a neighbouring unmetalled road through the urbanizacion, just to stretch my legs, now that Wednesdays' fall injury is improving, exercise seems to be beneficial, more than rest as there's nothing torn. Another large area of land adjacent to agricultural land rich with wild flowers a this time of year is taken up with very suburban looking  properties, whether holiday homes or dwellings for local people it's hard to tell.