20 reasons to be lockdown cheerful, part one

Time to be positive, I’ve decided, and here in no particular order are 20 reasons why…

1. I can see my kids at last as long as it’s outside and socially distant. 
2. B&Q is properly open and now that things have settled down the queuing’s not that bad.  Also garden centres reopen tomorrow so somewhere else to go!
3. Premier League could be back from June 1^st to provide a “much-needed morale boost”.
4. In most of the scenarios my team Coventry City – who proudly sit five points clear at the top of League One – look almost certain to be promoted to the Championship.
5. Some pubs, restaurants and hotels may able to reopen from July 4^th and some will no doubt be taking bookings soon which gives me something more to do and look forward to.
6. You can now go to country parks “irrespective of distance” so that presumably means beaches too as long as it’s not part for a holiday.
7. Certain non-essential shops can open in less than three weeks – maybe at last I can check out that new laptop I’ve had my eye on for the last couple of months at PC World.
8. Boyfriends and girlfriends can meet from different households as long as they respect social distancing rules which I suspect will be difficult after nearly two months apart!
9. Not only do Council tips in my area reopen next week but they’ll be open the full seven days rather than the part-time hours they normally operate.
10. I’m sure it won’t be long before I can see my Dad as long as we sit in the garden.
11. Even though July 4^th is a long way off at least there is a date for Mrs Jones to book in with her hairdresser to get her roots done!
12. Some primary schools are set to go back on June 1^st.  Never mind the value of education, just the sound of kids playing at school again will be lovely to hear after months of eerie silence.
13. Greece, as well as some other European tourist destinations are opening up, and there is talk that British tourists would be welcome there later this summer once the virus is under control.
14. The trains are increasing their capacity from next week, not that I’ll be going anywhere near one for the foreseeable but it’s good to know they are there if I need them.
15. Fast food outlets such as McDonalds, KFC and Burger King are slowly starting to reopen.
16. It won’t be long surely before Costa Coffee and Greggs follow suit.
17. I can play tennis – my club is set to reopen on Saturday – but only Mrs Jones can touch my balls!
18. It surely won’t be long before campsites start to take bookings and we can socially distant camp  in our beloved Love Bus once more.
19. And best of all, we can go to France. It’s been reported that Boris Johnson and Emmanual Macron are drawing up a ‘safe corridor’ travel plan in a bid to save summer holidays. Under the two leaders’ blueprint, all travellers will be able to cross freely between Britain and France.  It will be dependent on both countries maintaining a similar ‘R’ rate of virus contagion, as well as a descending number of cases. Makes me wonder whether something similar maybe agreed when we leave the EU at the end of the year.
20. The sun is shining!

Of course it’s a worry about the virus taking off again but if we all use good, solid British common sense then I’m sure we can slowly get back to something like normal.  This no-nonesense plumber perfectly sums up what our attitude should be rather than the predictable political carping that’s been going on ever since Sunday’s announcement.

I’m going to try and not get annoyed about the inevitable inconvenience of easing the lockdown and not too worried about catching the virus and really savour all these small changes.