Defences Down.

The most famous line from the Battle of Jutland came from Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty who said ‘There’s something wrong with our bloody ships today.’ There was, too. Their defences were all at sea and they were going down faster than Donald Trump’s reputation. And so it is with me today. Why do I have a cold?

I don’t get colds. I haven’t had one since I had a bad bout of flu in 1995 which seemed to make of my body an impenetrable fortress to the offending virus. Adult cold viruses warn their offspring: ‘Pass this one by, oh little one. Do not enter under any circumstances, for to do so will only lead to your premature demise.’ And so it does. At the first hint of sore sinuses my snipers take aim and they never miss, or at least they didn’t until today. Today I have a cold.

But at least I was still able to marvel at the midges dancing in shafts of sunlight this evening. Is there any sight more iconic of summer? I tried to count one group but gave up and blamed the cold.

And absolutely nothing of the slightest interest happened on my shopping trip today, apart from the fact that I sneezed occasionally. The cold, you know…

'If it be a natural thing, where do it come from? Where do it go?'

~The Ghost Train. 1941.