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Conclusions

Yetismith

February 13

1210/11th February 2024

Somewhat reluctantly, I agreed to go along on this morning's shopping expedition.

It's never a bad idea to have a change of scene.

First stop at the post office required driving through Cambridge which appeared locked up tight.

Not a car and not a soul in sight.

Except that is, for the putt-putt that managed to be in front of us all the way to Greenwich.

That this incurred but a single, minor moan was indicative of the fact that Grant was pre-occupied.

As we set off he had announced suddenly that his vision was "off".

"Off how? Should I be driving?"

He assured me that this was not necessary. It was just that his recent return to 20/20 had fuzzed out a bit.

Signs were just not as clear today. I could tell that he was trying to make sense of this.

Understandably.

It's been a month since an alarming blood sugar reading of 600 and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes sent Grant off to an emergency room.

With medication and diet, the levels have dropped steadily and are now in normal range.

A week or so ago, one of the benefits was a tremendous improvement of his long range eyesight with a slight deterioration of close range sight corrected by his glasses.

The change was an unexpected gift, as Grant gained a new appreciation of our nice scenery.

Our optometrist told Grant to go back for re-evaluation of his prescription once his blood sugar had been below 200 for a month, so further changes are not really a surprise, but it is obviously a little disappointing in his case.

This morning's blood sugar had dropped another 8 points, so Grant concluded that his sight obviously benefitted from a slightly higher level and he was going home to have a large slice of cake and a big helping of custard.

Just as well we don't have any!

Cambridge had been unusually quiet and Greenwich was the same, as if everyone had gone in and wound up their sidewalks.

We noticed that a couple of political flags had been taken down and wondered if those householders have had a change of heart.

Not that I think the latter is related to this morning's strange vibe.

Perhaps everyone was recovering from the Super Bowl? I had forgotten about that grand event.

Watching American football is my idea of torture, but it is a very big deal for the fans.

Maybe a Monday in mid-February is bound to be a bit blah but Grant hit it on the head when he offered the opinion that today the world looked exhausted.

There is another component.

When we went to Clifton Park recently, we passed several groups of workmen cutting trees.

This seems to have become the latest pastime, as if they have been told:

"Go forth and bash trees!"

Because bashing is what they are doing, no gentle removal of branches. In many places branches have simply been ripped off raggedly and left as they fell.

With the exception of a tree on my favourites list, no less. It was removed in total for no good reason, power lines being on the opposite side of the road.

As we drove along today, it was very clear that the tree-bashers had been at it again leaving the wreckage where no power lines were in proximity.

Meanwhile there had been no apparent attempt to remove branches and bushes that are totally enclosing other cables.

Tree bashing even came to our small corner of the world. Late yesterday and long after dark we heard the sound of a busy chain-saw and sure enough more trees are gone.

Poorly specimens, but offending no-one.

Is it a competition of some sort?

Or an other lunatic craze?