Dear Reader - Light at end of lockdown tunnel + my sternest critic on Zoom

The street where I live is slow to stir in the morning these days.

Which isn’t a problem, though it is a change.

Most of my neighbours are furloughed, self-employed or not as young as they once were with little reason to rise early under lockdown.

Even the children of families left and right on this friendly cul de sac seem less keen to get up and go out.

Which suits me just fine working from home in my spare room like the rest of my colleagues and most of the country.

But this week I detected what may be the first slight signs of change.

Since social distancing first came in, I’ve tried to avoid ‘physical’ shopping as much as possible.

Never mind the queues, it’s the sheer tension of trying not to bump into fellow customers or members of staff.

Needs must, however, so earlier this week I headed into Harrogate to visit the Post Office in WH Smiths.

Things seemed a little different from the last time I ventured into town.

More people, more cars, not as many as in normal times, but more than the last time I looked.

It felt as if a small part of our old lives was starting to trickle out.

The clincher was the sight of the Stray at West Park with its grass starting to recover in bright, beautiful sunshine.

And, yes, I know that stretch of parkland still has a long way to go before its back to its best.

But, just for one glorious moment a thought popped in my head I hadn’t had since the start of the crisis six weeks or so ago.

This situation is going to end.

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Before lockdown, I didn’t know my Zoom from my Zumba.

Neither was really part of my world.

When it comes to social media, I’ve always taken the same attitude I took to bands that were overly hyped in the classic era of rock in the 1970s.

Just because millions of people say something is great doesn’t mean I am going to buy the T-shirt.

The nature of my job has obliged me to get involved with the digital world but I like to think of myself as a visitor rather than someone who lives there.

Changed days.

I now find myself on Zoom three or four times a week to hook up with colleagues or friends or take part in music events in my capacity as a ‘professor of pop.’

Last Saturday afternoon I even signed up as a ‘DJ’ for a virtual music festival on Harrogate Community Radio.

No don’t worry, I’m under no illusion this makes me Trevor Nelson.

Last night I gave a talk about Simple Minds live streamed as part of Darley businessman and hi-fi expert Colin Paine’s weekly Vinyl Sessions which is raising funds for the Friends of Harrogate Hospital charity.

The technology worked fine as I waffled on to a row of distant faces on my computer screen.

It was the cat that was the problem.

At one point the little bundle of fluffiness wandered over to my keyboard and parked herself on top of it before starting to stare right into the laptop’s camera.

Then, as if she’d planned it, she rose up, squeezed herself close to the screen and turned slowly the other way around.

I guess she didn’t like my talk.

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