11:12 – 11:59, wind NNW 2 gusting 3, temp8C (feels like 6)

The cause of the pandemic.

wren sings on the garden fenCe
       looping through the sOuth east
                        cherRy in
                     full flOwer
                the bell paiNted black
        fewer people less trAffic
                           iVy rotted fence
                        a poInter and an old black lab
                     duck thRough the fence
                   cows on dUke’s moor
               smell of woodSmoke

15:16 – 16:03, wind NNE 4 gusting 6, temp 10C (feels like 7)

The public are instructed to maintain a proximity of two metres from each other and for no more than 15 minutes.

                      dog puShed along in a baby buggy
                       bush Of sparrow’s
                            Chirp
                       greetIngs
             passing at distAnce
                          poLice car makes a sharp right turn
jay-walk across the main roaD
                 side roads Into Jesmond
   outside the house builderS stand chatting
                       pass The ruined chapel
                            Along the dene
                      two meN talk across the road
                         patChes of sunshine
      always walking into thE wind

14:24 – 15:11, wind NNE 4 gusting 6, temp 4C (feels like -1)

Lockdown as a strategy for containment of the virus.

                        today is Colder 
          as the wind is in the nOrth again 
                             the Number 44 bus with two passengers 
            padlock and chain fasTens the bishop’s gate 
                          brassicAs netted against pigeons 
                          forsythIa glows yellow 
                            gardeN gate of welded horseshoes 
                                sMall groups of walkers 
                    traffic to thE Sainsbury’s Local 
                   children playiNg in gardens 
cyclist with a Kim Jong-un haircuT pedals slowly by

06:50 – 07:32, wind N 4 gusting 6, temp 6C (feels like 2)

Today’s walk …

                       zig-zag To
                          the nOrth west
                     shiny hoarDings promise
                    sumptuous bAthrooms
                          as crYing gulls circle
                 two magpies joStle at a roadkill
housing estate haunt of winter Waxwings
                    parked up cArs line the driveways
                              oLd nest in a pruned shrub
                           cracKed paving slabs

06:41 – 07:20, wind NW 1 gusting 2, temp 2C (feels like 2)

Today’s walk …

             off to the norTh 
        a freshly erected lOw fence 
                   a front Door with a brass letterbox missing 
                          cAmelia
                 a passing Youth drifts cigarette smoke 
         a blackbird percheS on the back of a park bench 
       dew decked spider’s Web hangs from a pelican crossing 
             mist haloed trAffic lights  
                       cobbLed alleyways
           a small supermarKet is already open

06:19 – 07:04, wind NW 1 gusting 1, temp 4C (feels like 4)

Today’s walk …

                      heading souTh
                       heavy dew On the grass
           across or over two roaDs
                     a pair of blAckbirds at the bottom of the hedge
                             a flY-over from a crow and a woodpigeon
                    tracks on graSs and gravel
           a Little Grebe and a sWan
                       three skylArks 
                             fly Low, chasing
 beyond a stone wall a Robin flicKs

11:50 – 12:31, wind WSW 3 gusting 4, temp 15C (feels like 15).

I am walking an island into existence.

Today we head to the eastern shore of Contención Island. A warmer day with slightly less wind. People are moving in ones and twos and taking the discrete mini detours to avoid coming within 2m.
There is a drift of traffic along the streets but as noticeable as the decrease in traffic is the increase in walkers.
As we turn a single Long-tailed Tit flicks through the shrubbery about 20 feet up.
A young woman and her spaniel chase their yellow tennis ball as it heads towards the bridge when, at the last second it is caught by the slope, turns, and runs down the steep bank and is lost into the burn.

         on ContencIón it is
 a warmer day with Slightly less wind
  an increase in waLkers of the streets whilst
    a single Long-tAiled Tit flicks through shrubbery
    a young woman aNd her spaniel chase but it is caught by the slope
              runs Down the steep bank and is lost

12:00 – 12:50, wind SSW 3 gusting 5, temp 14C (feels like 13).

Today is the first day of containment.

I walk a route off WSW, towards and onto the Town Moor then up the side of Cow Hill – I almost made it to the top – then back by a more easterly route.

It is mainly sunny, and I pass people, alone or in pairs, also out walking or running. We don’t pass close by each other on the pavements, instead stepping off into the road or veering off the path so that we leave ‘a distance’; there are several friendly nods and grins as we do this.

  It is mainly Sunny
I pass people sTepping off into the road
  leave ‘a distAnce’
 there are seveRal friendly nods
grins as we do This