A beautiful sunny day, if a little chilly in a stiff breeze. Also, it's Mothering Sunday.
Yet, in spite of both of these factors, it was so incredibly quiet. Traffic, yes, but fewer in number. We've all been warned that the kindest thing is to stay away from our mothers. As a result, the flowers on supermarket shelves have not been selling. We've said it before, but these strange times seem almost analogous to Christmas Day but without the cheer. There is no cheer. At the moment, this is just existence.
Just existence. Reported this morning is that our towns and villages have been told to set aside land for 30 grave plots each for coronavirus victims and it may be that there will have to be more than one victim buried in a plot. This is a worst case scenario but it's sobering. All regions have mass-fatality plans in the event of a natural disaster or a war. But, planning on this coronavirus-scale hasn't been seen since the early 1990's threat of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The type of spongiform encephalopathy was worrying enough at the time but at least we didn't need the mass graves then under discussion. Let's hope the same applies to the pest coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the day has dragged, as there's nowhere to go and nothing particularly to do.
And, for the first time ever (we think) there were no services in any of our town or village chapels or churches. Last Sunday, chapels and churches were defiant. This Sunday, they are shut. What was noticeable last weekend was the number of people coughing during chapel meetings. This wasn't (necessarily) COVID-19 but it was because of it that spluttering was suddenly much more apparent than usual. Church is certainly much more than a building, of course. But the services, the meetings, the prayer groups and the social activities are all part of our available support networks, should we wish to use them. Our two largest capeli enjoy a reasonable range of ages but most, including St Peter's and SS Mwrog & Mary, see a largely elderly congregation which needs that companionship now more than ever. Except churches can no longer legitimately function.
Just existence. Reported this morning is that our towns and villages have been told to set aside land for 30 grave plots each for coronavirus victims and it may be that there will have to be more than one victim buried in a plot. This is a worst case scenario but it's sobering. All regions have mass-fatality plans in the event of a natural disaster or a war. But, planning on this coronavirus-scale hasn't been seen since the early 1990's threat of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The type of spongiform encephalopathy was worrying enough at the time but at least we didn't need the mass graves then under discussion. Let's hope the same applies to the pest coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the day has dragged, as there's nowhere to go and nothing particularly to do.
Sign outside Capel y Tabernacl, Rhuthun/Ruthin, announcing its closure and urging everyone to take care and to support neighbours and vulnerable people
And, for the first time ever (we think) there were no services in any of our town or village chapels or churches. Last Sunday, chapels and churches were defiant. This Sunday, they are shut. What was noticeable last weekend was the number of people coughing during chapel meetings. This wasn't (necessarily) COVID-19 but it was because of it that spluttering was suddenly much more apparent than usual. Church is certainly much more than a building, of course. But the services, the meetings, the prayer groups and the social activities are all part of our available support networks, should we wish to use them. Our two largest capeli enjoy a reasonable range of ages but most, including St Peter's and SS Mwrog & Mary, see a largely elderly congregation which needs that companionship now more than ever. Except churches can no longer legitimately function.