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Day 418 of lockdown . It is Super Thursday today. So called because it is the day when elections happen. Last year everything was on hold due to Covid. The councillors lived to fight another year before we had chance to have our say about their actions. This year we were voting members to the welsh Senedd, the Scots were voting for their parliament members, there was a by election in Hartlepool and we voted for our chosen mayors in and police commissioners. So it was going to be a busy day before my walk and my work .
We walked slowly to the village hall where the elections were taking place. In front of us we could see one lady heading in the same direction . Standing outside the hall waiting to go in brought back many memories . Memories of delivering the forms for election registration, delivering poll cards and starting life as a poll clerk. It was a long day but at least local and gave me chance to catch up with a friend who perhaps I had not seen since the last elections . We opened the doors at 7am but before that put up all
the notices and made sure the venue was ready. The caretaker from the school would turn up to check we were OK . I imagined things were much the same for the officers today . One major difference the signs showing entry and exit were all bi-lingual and there was a one way system in place . All because of Covid . Inside I could see the desk with the poll clerk and presiding officer behind screens . A third person stood and ushered the lady in front of us inside . Two voters allowed in at any one time . An elderly man held us up . He seemed not to know what to do . He wanted to talk but the staff wanted him in and out quickly as the queue was growing . The school teacher behind us moaned . He wanted to get to work . He thought the whole thing was over the top and he had to teach a class of 30 . He was not happy and was extremely vocal .
As we stood waiting he continued to complain. My thoughts were on the side bets we had about who would be
first through the doors . It was the local school head master too. As a poll clerk I took the cards and checked the names against the register . The poll clerk today refused to take the card . Covid she said . Put it up against the window and tell me who you are . There were no pencils . You had to bring your own . We used to talk to the mums who came on their way to school with the children. We chatted to the farmers and their wives who dropped in and before we knew it it was time to order our lunch from the local pub . I wondered how these ladies spent the day . Did they read as we did ? Did they bring games to play to pass the time? It was a long day . Mums would drop in again after school . Workers would pop by at teatime . We would order our tea from the pub and then the police would drop by to check how things were going . The local tellers would pitch up outside to check numbers . Then it would be time to pack
up. As the presiding officer I would have to deliver the box with the voting papers to the counting stations and then the day would be over . Todays experience brought back many memories of 20 years ago . Could I do it again ? Perhaps . Would I want to do it ? I wouldnt really like to do it under Covid rules .
So did I get the walk this morning . Sadly no . On the way home I spotted the old man who had been holding us up in the polling station , He lay on the floor where he had fallen. He told me he would be fine if I got him up and helped him to his feet. A car stopped and a teacher from the local school came over . We got him up to his feet , picked his bag up and I took him home. Good deed for the day done .
Day 419 - The day after the election and by the time I went out for my walk the results of the elections were just starting to come in. Labour had held the Senedd in Wales . The red wall had fallen in Hartlepool and the Conservatives had taken the seat for the first time in 53 years. I headed out on one of my usual walks . The hedges were white with the Hawthorn blossom . The smell as always was heady. The Queen Annes Lace graced the roadside . As I walked I heard the birdsong and the swish of the bicycle wheels as a lone rider past me. Morning he shouted . I wondered if he was thinking about the elections and Covid as I was. We would have to wait longer to find out how our own Senedd member for North Wales had got on . Dandelions were everywhere . Some bright yellow flowers , others in the seed stage looking like parachutes. Ladies Smock lined the wet fields. The river flowed by pleasantly. England was opening up more . Would Wales be more cautious. If we lived in England we could travel to France but France did not want us yet. Portugal was open to us according to Boris but we had to wait to find out if Portugal would let us in . Not much good to us motorhomers . No way to get to Portugal in a van. Israel - we are free to go there . Gibraltar . It was looking more and more likely that our holiday would need cancelling .
A germ of a holiday idea was beginning to come into my head. With each step I put another pin in the map. Hartlepool - this was on the map after the election results . A wonderful museum of naval life was to be found in Hartlepool. It looks like this year will be another staycation rather than a trip to the continent . Back to the drawing board . We need a holiday .
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jackie
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Holidays
We have booked a holiday to Iceland for a week in June - its also on the green list!! I'm just glad we didn't book Israel & I reckon all the families and kids will go to the Algarve!! Hoping France and Spain are on a green list by autumn so that we can drive to the house! We'll see!!