Thursday, January 21. WFH: DAY 10. 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: On with marking and the administration of such, and with arrangements for next week’s teaching. (In the background: Charlie Parker’s Jam Sessions (1952).) I’m most conscious of those things that Ill be doing for the last time.

11.00 am: I attended a conference-call about student mental-health issues. Treading the line between one’s humanity and a professional detachment is hard when addressing the pressing needs of students. Damned if you intervene; damned if you don’t, in some contexts.

12.15 pm: I’d not ventured outdoors in a few days. The weather and work had prevailed. There’s little traffic on the road, presently. And fewer pedestrians on the pavement. I cross the road, rather than pass at a social distance. 2 metres seems a little too close for comfort, these days. It’ll be hard to readjust to the hustle and bustle of normal life again. Walking among the dead:

The already established patches of inundation along Plas Grug Avenue had swelled after the last few days’ downpour. New mirrors shimmered as a light breeze breathed across them:

1.30 pm: On with marking admin, teaching-diary planning, followed by (as a treat) a little light reading in the sunlight:

3.45 pm: On with the PowerPoint for the second REF output:

7.30 pm: The project set the agenda for the evening’s work.