Letters from the Falkland Islands
Early on in this period of quarantine, during my first
allocated outside slot, I made a quite wonderful discovery. If you stand in one
particular spot in the sheep pen, if you stand on tiptoes and crane your neck;
it is possible to make out two red phone boxes and the unmistakable top of a
red pillar box. Every time I’ve been out since I always make sure I get a
glimpse of it. I’m not entirely sure why I love post boxes so much, nor why a
week’s holiday in Scotland turned into a bit of a post box quest. I suppose it’s
the magic that surrounds it all, the magic of letter writing. It’s about connection
and communication, it’s about taking whoever you are in the moment of writing
and giving that part of you to someone else. There’s an honesty and thoughtfulness
to it all that seems to have been lost in the instantaneous world we’ve come to
inhabit.
A few days later, or it might have just been the next day, I
realised I was encountering a coffee shortage. Now, although we are in quarantine
here, in a different country, we have not just been left to fend for ourselves.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have two logistics coordinators based in the
Falklands; Liz and Brad. Now, the only extra coffee the hotel could seem to
provide was decaff (which is not really coffee at all), so I messaged Brad and
he was able to sort me out a jar of Nescafe. Brad also said that if there was
anything else at all just to let him know. What followed was probably not the
usual kind of request he receives. I asked, if it wasn’t too much trouble,
would he be able to take a photo of something for me. I explained about the post
box, explained it in a way that would have left him in no doubt that I was either
a little bit of a geek or someone who wasn’t taking to quarantine too well! I
even had to ask him to go back and take a second photo, because the first one
he sent me was just of the royal cypher and not the box in its entirety. Thanks
Brad! Christmas really does come early sometimes.
Pribib
ReplyDeleteHow are the push ups going?
Pribib. I have answered this by way of a new blog post x
DeleteSounds like some black marketeerin is afoot ....
ReplyDelete