I have been thinking today that the government should publish on how to walk on the pavement to ensure we can all socially distance. Perhaps this already exists – I must admit I haven’t looked or heard (on the radio) the news for at least a week!
This morning, I was rushing with Honey the Dog to the park to give her a walk before Daily Morning Chi Gong. There was a guy walking right down the middle of the pavement. I wanted to get past him – with cars parked on the roadside – I couldn’t get past him socially distanced – so had to pass him closer than 2 metres.
It made me think about a visit to my Uncle and Aunt when I was a child. I was staying with them for a few days, seeing my cousins, etc…It was April Fools Day and my Uncle came home from work chuckling about an April Fools in the papers about how they were bringing in lanes for people walking on the pavement, to save ‘Pavement Rage’. Similar to that on a motorway.
If you wanted to walk leisurely you would go in the ‘slow’ lane, on the left, if you wanted to go slightly faster you would go in the middle lane, to walk past them and then if you were running you would go in a third lane on the far right of the pavement.
This morning, this came to me and I thought – this is exactly what we need now for social distancing. It would work perfectly. Although, maybe pavements are mostly too narrow for this to happen?
I did an internet search about exactly this and found quite a few articles about something similar being introduced by different councils across the UK.
This particular one caught my eye – as it is in Birmingham and a regular Blog Reader, Matt lives in Birmingham! It is described as:
“Supermarket-style pedestrian ‘traffic flow’ information is set to be applied to one of Birmingham’s busiest pavements.”
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/new-social-distancing-pavements-being-18270111
It gets launched tomorrow
Who would have thought, all those years ago, that an April Fools would start to become a reality!
But, I honestly think that there should be a leaflet produced on how to socially distance on the pavement. You get some people who walk in twos or threes talking to each other (obviously in the same household) walking down the middle of the pavement. You get others walking socially distanced talking to each other – taking up most of the pavement. When really would be easier to walk in single file! You also get people standing socially distanced talking to each other – one standing one side of the pavement, the other on the other (next to the road) talking across to each other. And you have to cross through their path of conversation and with a narrow pavement you can’t socially distance. With the roads now back to life as if before lock-down – you can’t use the roads to socially distance!
On Easter Road, near where I live – there is a bottle-neck at Co-Op. Here you have people queuing down the street waiting to get in. A homeless person always sitting opposite the entrance wanting to get money – then shoppers coming out the street AND folk (like me) walking along the street. Some in both directions – it’s impossible to socially distance. With cars driving too fast up and down the road – AND I usually have Honey the Dog with me – it’s just impossible. I now cross to the other-side of the road when I get near there!
So last night, I didn’t sleep well. I couldn’t get to sleep and finally at 4am decided to get up and do some of the work I was doing yesterday and had to get finished this morning. Then went back to bed around 5.30am and got about 2 hours sleep before my alarm went off for Chi Gong.
After yesterday, I have been more careful on how much time I use on screen-time and taking things more steady. After our daily walk this afternoon, I went for a rest of the sofa and dozed for a few hours. Before, Honey the Dog woke me up wanting her dinner and I had a Zoom Meeting at 7pm for the Dalmeny Street Park that I go to with Honey the Dog.
Our daily walk was at Kate’s Park. Before heading there we went to Mo Beans Coffee Shop for Honey to see her Golden Labrador friend Nuno. I had a homemade Walnut Brownie (see photo) and also noticed that they are now doing take-away meals. Not only the 14 inch homemade pizza for £6, now also macaroni cheese and spaghetti bolognese for £4 each. So if you live in Leith (or even Edinburgh) and fancy a night off cooking dinner, I would highly recommend checking this out (open from 11am to 3pm – Monday to Saturday).
Then we headed to Kate’s Park and we spent a while trying to get an inspirational photo for the top of this blog.
Check out the YouTube Video of our mini photo-shoot.
Most of the photos I took of Honey, she was not in focus. Or you can’t see her!
Below are the photos that didn’t make the cut. These are in a Photo Gallery – so you can click on any photo to see it full-size. Honey can be spotted in all the photos – see if you can see her 🙂
Just thought I would show you the creativity I go to everyday to bring you some daily photos! The photo at the top of the blog always has Honey the Dog.
As I’ve been to Kate’s Park quite a lot and it’s not that big – I’m getting limited on locations, that you have not seen!
Readers Corner
Today just one comment for Readers Corner – but it is not the quantity that counts but the quality. This is from Helen from Sweden.
Helen
She messaged me earlier with the following:
“Hi Jim, I don’t know if this is newsworthy enough for the Reader’s Corner! I got a new pair of socks today and they make me smile 
The sandals are pretty much standard issue in Sweden. I got my first pair a couple of weeks ago and have now officially joined the socks-and-sandals brigade (indoors only!). Even though I became a Swedish citizen a couple of years ago, there are a few things that make it feel real: these sandals are one, another is using “decilitre”, “hectogram” and “decimeter” in casual conversation.
Hugs, Helen”
Thanks for sharing Helen! Everything is news worthy in Readers Corner 😉
So glad that your sandals make you feel even more Swedish! It sounds like these sandals are more important to being Swedish than your citizenship! I must admit, I wear sandals and socks – although I would get shunned by my friends if outside! Why are those words in casual conversation so Swedish?
If you have anything exciting to share about your day, please do send onto me for Readers Corner. Letting me know it’s for Readers Corner.
This evening during our Bedtime walk round the cemetery, we saw a fox! I know I’ve said it before, but this walk is the most special walk for me at the end of the day. Reflecting on how my day has been, connecting to the stillness, silence and the earth.
Anyway, back to the fox. We’ve seen the fox in the winter, but never in the summer. It usually follows us around the cemetery in the darkness of the winter’s night about 9pm. Last time, in January, it was really close – like about 2 metres and gave me a real fright when I saw it staring at us, peering from behind a gravestone.
Tonight it kept its distance. I didn’t let Honey the Dog off the lead, as she would chase it and as I explained to her, the cemetery is probably the foxes home and doesn’t have a nice comfy bed to sleep on or food whenever it wants – so has more right to be there than us!
I tried to take photos of it (see below) another Photo Gallery so can tap on photos to see full-size. This is when I wish I had a better camera in my pocket, rather than my iPhone!
The appearance of the fox tonight has quite a spiritual significance for me. In 2007, 13 years ago this evening / 5am tomorrow morning, my grandmother died. I was with her when she died – the only person, I have been when they stop breathing and was a really special time for me – in a spiritual way.
Her death, led to a series of events back in 2007, that led me to quit my full-time job / career and become self-employed, which I have been pretty much since.
When I decided to quit – I was unsure if I was doing the right thing – moving from a good salary into nothing!
I was living in Glasgow in Battlefield, at the bottom of my street – there was a small garden (Battlefield Gardens). I would walk there, whilst trying to decide whether to quit my job or not – my gut instinct saying I wanted to do that, but my head telling me not – I used to see foxes in the wee garden.
Pretty similar to what I do now – I would go for a bedtime walk in the small garden about 10pm and reflect on life. A number of times during that time I saw a family of foxes – the parents and two fox cubs. They would let me stand quite close – and I always remember seeing the cubs playing together.
So pretty significant that tonight I see a fox, which I haven’t seen since January, on my evening/bedtime walk!
I will share more of my story about that tomorrow.
Right now, it’s time for Bedtime Chi Gong and then to bed.
Hope you’ve all had a lovely day!
Much Love
Jim xxx
Heshani Sothiraj Eddleston
Loved the different lanes idea and the story… you write so well Jim. One day I would love to take pics of Honey.
Lots of love
Heshani
Helen
I’m not sure why “deci” is so quintessentially Swedish. Most metric countries are happy to describe things in ones, hundreds and thousands, like metre, centimetre and kilometre. Whereas, Swedes like things in tens, such as decimetre instead of 10 cm and “mil” instead of 10 km. I guess in a Swede’s head, a hectogram is a tenth of a kg? I googled a few things, but couldn’t find an explanation for why it is such a Swedish thing. However, I did find out that my usual way of writing “meter” is the US spelling, even though the US has not adopted the metric system. I must try to remember to write “metre” from now on.