Ab abusu ad usum non valet consequentia

 I’m finding that my conversations are looping back on me a bit, so please forgive the pretentiousness of the Latin! Today’s reference is “a right is still valid even if abused” so that something right if it is right.  

 The photo is the view from my window at supper time (at the ripe hour of 5pm, because dinner isn’t dinner if it’s after dark, for some reason!). I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do, even if I’m not yet allowed outside). I’m looking forward to the easing of restrictions so that I can join in the grownups in having a later afternoon walk.  I’m told that having a grownup age walk is a big deal and when I’m old enough it’s something to enjoy!  Meanwhile, I vicariously participate in outdoor activities. Thanks everyone for your comments on the photos and for your many kind words on the blog itself.  I appreciate everything that you say, and your thoughts.  Again, I note that I can’t reply to everyone — the energy needed exceeds what I have available — but you’re all wonderful, and it’s marvellous that you take the time to answer my musings.  It’s wonderful that you have the time to pay attention enough to comment.

Today was my first full day in rehab.  I slept more last night than I have for a long time, and woke this morning feeling more refreshed.  I know that I didn’t sleep for hours uninterrupted, but it felt better than it had for a long time.  I had my first physio session at 11:15 and it was smoother than I had anticipated.  I admit that I was nervous about this, in that I anticipated pressure to change my behaviours and become Rambo or something like him.  My session really was quite short — it was mainly conversation with a little movement to see how much energy I have available for activities — but at the end of 15 minutes I was totally wiped out!  I was half asleep by the time lunch rolled around, and I was out for the evening.  So my later actions were lethargic, to say the least of it!  By 1:30pm I was animated only by the memory of life.  I slept until 3:30pm when I woke up enough to have my sponge bath and be ready to meet Don.  I was very happy to see him, although I had no spare energy for anything!  It was wonderful to be in front of him, to see his face — obscured as it was by the mask — and settle into a staring match while I tried to stay awake for the hour allocated!  After our brief chat, I went in for dinner (I will need to retrain the kitchen staff.  No question about that!! and prepare them for reality!) and ready for the evening.  I fell 😴 totally!! Until 9pm.  My sugars were low, and my appetite was there again.  So there was a snack and now I’m just blogging before bed.  I’m in a bit of shock that my music is considered “classic” and Big Truck is classified along with Miss Mary!  Anyone else can identify?  Of course, my nurse appeared just as I was grooving to Savannah Grass 😂 so either she thinks I’m crazy or that I’m partly faking my injuries!

Let’s go back to the question of rights that are still valid, and to the question of beliefs.  In the middle of the pandemic, which is still all too real and too present, there were restrictions made on people’s movements, and we were all placed under “stay at home” orders.  A politician opted to pretend that he remained at home, but instead left the country and was on a beach holiday.  This led to outrage that he chose to travel, and the media then focussed on the deceit of staying home versus travelling.  I’m choosing this example because it’s probably easiest to address of all the many, many forms of hypocrisy that exist, and we could touch on several of the others later.  Anyway, there was a sense that “why should I follow the rules when the rule makers won’t?”  Let’s be adult, shall we?  Integrity means doing the right thing. Your words and your actions are congruent.  So if an adult politician decides to lie, it  certainly doesn’t negate the right thing! I’m certain that everyone’s parents drilled into them that honesty was not dependent on doing something only when you could see it.  Nor that virtue was positional — meaning that you could only trust someone when you could see them at all times.   We all agree, at least when asked, that someone’s sincerity is critical to whether they can be trusted or not.  So why, then, do we twist our psyches into either justifying a politician’s actions or vilifying them?  In the pandemic, especially, the excuses that people use to avoid the lockdown measures are truly puerile and ridiculous.  I’ve seen so many memes that suggest that we should allow more flexibility because of some slight feint in rule-application that I feel annoyed with people.  I should probably ease up and laugh, but it’s too serious, I’m sorry!  

We really should be working in concert, and trying to strengthen our actions.  Instead we’re acting like it’s a game and we’re playing hide-and-seek with reality.  Yes, it’s disheartening that we have to wait and that we have to be at home when the weather is nice.  We have to stay away from others and avoid gatherings, and some people seem to gather freely.  It’s not easy.  But the longer we defy the lockdown, the longer, and more stringent become the rules.  Each time we say that we’ll defy the rules is that much longer before we can gather.  It’s no longer funny.  And as fully grown adults, we also know that it’s not a game.  Let’s pull together!  We also know that there are some people who are required to be in a position where they cannot segregate.  Please don’t make it harder for everyone else!  Our individual actions matter.  While we can’t control other people, we can control ourselves.  The old calypso (this counts as both classic and vintage, since it’s from the mid-1960s!) asks “If priest could play, who is me?”  which really asks whether someone else’s behaviour should affect our own.  And the answer remains unequivocally “no!”  Right behaviour is right, and it’s not affected by someone else’s actions.  So saying that someone wasn’t doing something wrong is just a sad excuse.  I’m sorry if I seem harsh.  Maybe it’s way past my bedtime and I should be more focussed on going to sleep, instead of these questions.  So let’s do that, then.  We do the right thing because it’s the right thing, not because we get rewarded for it.  Love you loads!

And here’s a lovely bouquet from Judith, who sent me this to help me to focus.  We’re getting closer to the end of the endless lockdowns and closer to lobster birthday dinner parties.  Be good, and kind to each other! XOXO