I’ve always liked the word Twilight. You don’t hear it spoken much though, other than when referring to some American TV/Film series. We seem to go straight from evening to night these days, but i’ve always enjoyed the twilight.
“Twilight Over England” was the title of the autobiography of one William Joyce, better know by his nickname of Lord Haw Haw. Joyce was a British fascist who took refuge in Germany during WW2 and spent his evenings broadcasting German propaganda back to the UK. After the war he was brought back to London, tried for treason, and met his end at HMP Wandsworth, courtesy of the hangman.
Joyce’s musings have nothing to do with this blog posting, however it does feel as though there is a Twilight Over England at the moment. The country is slowly darkening. A darkening of mood, of health, of economic prospects………it’s like the whole country is slowly slipping into a deep dark blackness. It won’t be temporary either. Even when the lockdown is lifted it will take years, maybe even a generation or two before the country can repay the money we’ve had to borrow to keep us all afloat.
Making a much needed trip to Darlington Aldi a couple of nights ago felt like being on a film set. Deserted roads, empty parks, shuttered shops, closed pubs, a darkened theatre. The only time i’ve ever seen the streets as quiet as that has been on Christmas day. But at Christmas, we know things will be back to their normal bustling self within a few hours, but now it’s different. We are in this for the foreseeable future.
I spent today working in the garden, digging over the weed strewn vegetable patch. Yet even in that slice of rural North Yorkshire i was aware things were different. It was the silence. It’s normally pretty quiet in the garden, but you do hear the odd thing. A loud car in the distance (Maybe even racing cars at far off Croft Circuit if the wind is in the right direction). Kids in the school playground. People visiting the cemetery next door. A lawn mower. A police siren from the A1M half a mile away. Today there was nothing. It was so quiet. Just the birds singing. Just me & the birds.
Stillness & Speed 