The unlikely duo of Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp have released a cover of John Lennon’s song ‘Isolation’. In Depp’s own words: “We cannot and must not succumb to shutting down and giving in to what feels like hellish quarantine monotony. Create something today that will benefit yourselves and others tomorrow. Do anything you think could be of use to brighten someone’s day. Draw, read, paint, think, learn, make a film on your phone, play an instrument if you play; if you don’t, learn.”

Johnny’s singing isn’t doing much for me, while Beck’s guitar talks, sings and cries, as always. His May gig in Sheffield still hasn’t been cancelled/rescheduled, even though virtually every other show at Sheffield City Hall has been postponed. What are they waiting for ? In the meantime, another gig I was going to go to in June – Nordic storytellers Warduna, widely recognized since the ‘Vikings’ soundtrack – has been postponed to April next year. With heavy heart, I had to ask for a refund and then spent a good few days emailing Booking.com and the Ibis hotel in Birmingham, each telling me to contact the other for room cancellation. Once I know for sure that Beck’s gig isn’t happening in May, which, let’s face it, is almost certain, I’m going to have to ask a hotel in Sheffield, very kindly, for a cancellation or moving a date to whenever. If the new date falls on a week day, then, again, I will have no choice but to cancel it completely. With my sad 19 days of annual leave I simply can’t afford taking days off during a week.

As for Johnny’s advice, a lot of people seem to take it to heart. Having said that, if someone had no creative hobbies before the lockdown, I doubt they will suddenly discover hidden talents. My friend in Poland who has been into music all his life, has now finilized his first ever album and sent it to me. I haven’t listened to it yet…Another friend is writing a book and sends us a few chapters at a time. All I am doing at the moment is an occasional pic on Instagram. At this unusual time I’ve decided to focus on my fitness and wellbeing, instead of drawing, baking and other stuff that I never fancied anyway. I’ve managed my first week of Couch25K and to my surprise it was fairly easy. It is doing wonders to my mood and I noticed my skin looks so much better too, after just 3 very short walk-runs. At the same time I am continuing my Walk 1000 Miles Challenge, while fully adhering to the lockdown rules, and I am pleased to say I only have just under 600 miles left. I now need to alternate walks and runs but I remain optimistic that I will succeed at both.

I am trying to make holiday plans for 2021. So much is still uncertain and it is possible that some, if not all trips will have to be moved to 2021 leaving me with very little room to add anything else. I am determined to go somewhere for Xmas, Madeira has been on my mind for years. I am also revising my daily routine, starting with Sunday, which is now deemed a ‘blog’ day and it is my goal to write a new post every Sunday morning, whether I have any interesting photographs to go with it, or not. It has also become something of a ‘chat’ day, be it Skype or Whatsapp. A leisurely walk, rather than a fast paced one. A nice breakfast, made without haste. And so on…

Having to queue outside supermarkets means I visit them infrequently, and eat what I have rather than what I fancy. I seem to spend some 30 % less on food since the lockdown started, I spend very little in fact – no bus or train fares, no coffees in town, no shopping. Curiously, less wine, one bottle lasts me from Friday till Sunday. More holiday money for me!

Embrace Isolation. In some way, it could be a blessing in disguise.