24th April 2022

 We’ve been finalising our long-awaited trip to the US to see our children. It’s been years since we last saw them. Zoom and Whatsapp are all very well but not the same. But why does everything have to be so difficult?  I’m still so tired from the lingering effects of Bell’s Palsy, so solving travel restrictions is like climbing a mountain. The US CDC entry rules still state that we must have a pre-departure Covid test within one day of travel but everyone interprets that differently. Because of past traffic delays, we like to stay overnight in an airport hotel. But if we take the test before we leave home, some say that’s more than one day even though the US site says that’s ok as it would still be within one calendar day!  Being a worrier I can’t risk being refused at check in, so I’m attempting to reserve a test at the airport the evening before. But some say the results take 24h! Hopefully a company there called Randox can give us a LF result in 60 minutes, but too soon yet to reserve the exact time and day I need, they say. And then there’s the 7 hour flight.  A holiday’s supposed to be pleasure and relaxation…

I’ll just have to visualise the idylls of our destination. Not too long now.

17th April 2022

I see that displaying the number of calories on restaurant and cafe menu items has now become law here.   I know what the French would say: c’est un catastrophe! And they’d be right.  Food to them isn’t just a commodity, it’s the foundation of life. The finer the ingredients, the better your health.  Putting poor quality food into your mouth is like asking Rolls Royce owners to fill up the tank with gas-oil used for heating.  French markets only sell vegetables and fruits in season, unlike shops here which sell foods like mushrooms and strawberries all year round. French restaurants provide the best ingredients, irrespective of calorie content, because flavour and quality are everything. The important thing is that, compared with the UK and the US, the plates are smaller! The new calorie policy here does no favours either to those with eating disorders because the focus becomes all about numbers. Calories don’t teach good nutrition, nor what’s in a balanced diet.  What’s needed is a healthy relationship with food. So, taste that butter, cream and cheese, and use olive oil in your cooking - but ditch those giant plates. A little bit of exquisite flavour from the finest, seasonal, natural ingredients, cooked on the hob, is far better than a mountain of tasteless, microwaved, processed food. 

10th April 2022

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scathing this week when he addressed the UN Security Council. He reminded them that, since its formation in 1945, it guaranteed peace after the horrors of WWII.  And he should know, with his Jewish background. But what should the UN do when one of their own member countries is currently carrying out war against another? It’s a credibility test for the UN. Are they just a talking shop, with no actual action? Also, many are the complaints about international bias. Israelis say that a UN complement of 18 large Arab nations v just one tiny Israel means there’s a huge UN bias against them, given that so many Arab nations pledge destruction of their country. This is proven by the large number of UN accusations against Israel whilst far more serious international conflicts are either ignored or not dealt with by resolution. Today, the threat to world peace is greater than at any time since the end of the Cold War in 1989. Yet, the UN has done nothing to stop the war in Ukraine. So, with its inherent biases and inaction, what’s the point of the UN? As Zelenskyy says, the UN might as well shut up shop.

IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES

Image caption, 

3rd April 2022

When I wrote An Englishwoman in America (scroll down to the image on the right), I was struck by the strength of family connections. My late father sailed across the Atlantic to NY at the age of 16, before returning to England in the 1930’s Depression era. In 1922, his older sister Babette was sent to the US from the back-to-back houses of inner-city Birmingham in order to improve her chances. On arrival at Ellis Island, she told immigration officials that she was a lady’s maid. It clearly worked because she lived in Brooklyn until her death there at the age of 90. Today, we haven’t seen our children, each married to an American, for over three years. So, this week I’ve been arranging our trip to Maine in the summer. I’d forgotten how difficult all the procedures are, from finding a travel insurance firm dealing with the US who include those over 70 with pre-existing conditions, to completing the fiendish US ESTA form to gain entry. To be honest, following a recent illness I don’t have a lot of physical energy, and even trying to get my printer to talk to my Microsoft Surface S laptop is still proving impossible. Ah well, at least I won’t need to tell US immigration I’m a lady’s maid! But, above all, family is everything. So, if not now, when?