■ All presents this year bought in Rhuthun/Ruthin? YES‡
■ Sum total of the value of presents bought on Amazon this year: £0.00
■ Sum total spent online this Christmas: £0.00
■ Expected difference this will make to Rhuthun: sadly, none
More than ever this year, we were urged to shop locally. We'll not know whether this was successful till we see shops staying afloat during the lean months of the winder 2021. The fact that we went into the third lockdown at the start of the last week before Christmas probably didn't help.
You cannot get everything you need in Rhuthun, though. It was telling on December 23rd that the local Amazon distributor's drive *and* his next door neighbour's was littered with parcels and packets as never before seen. Loading his van and that of a drafted in local electrician, it was like playing Twister. How he gets away with running a delivery business from a bungalow on a housing estate is beyond me but there's no doubt he's had a busy 2020, with its significant increase in online orders for delivery. But, at least one family has benefited from this pandemic.
A different Christmas Day yesterday. A couple of video calls but otherwise, very quiet. The recently widowed elderly relative was with us for three hours. Otherwise, I spent most of the day listening to 4hr 28m of radio, largely Classic FM, while reading a novel, watching all of 1hr 27m of pre-recorded TV. I missed the family but managed to enjoy doing nothing in particular.
Meanwhile, of the dozen neighbours I can see, only two had additional vehicles parked outside. Usually, there's a jumble of motors sprinkled all over the place like dried currants amid a Christmas panettone... but not this year.
Only 364 days to Christmas.
‡ My spouse bought one present from Yr Wyddgrug/Mold: a book. Rather sadly, we no longer have a bookshop in Rhuthun.
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Coronavirus