Monday, February 11, 2008

Solar Power *

It’s been a bad month. You might have been able to tell, what with the total absence of posts and all.

No need to bother with the whys and wherefores. Most folk resident in Blighty might have some clue, although the press coverage of he latest spat between GP Land and Her Britannic Majesty’s Government hasn’t exactly been at the fore-front of the news agenda. Add that to the arrival of a new Student (whom I’m trying desperately to inoculate against the cynicism of my confreres—after all somebody’s got to step up to the plate and keep working to pay for my pension) and a rash of young adults bent on their own self –destruction, and overall the latter half of January through to now has been, in common parlance, “a bit of a bugger”.

And yet today, on the usual drive in to surgery, things somehow feel a little brighter. For one thing, half term is upon us, so no school run and no school traffic. Also all weekend, and again this morning, the sun has been shining, with nary a cloud in the sky. Daffodils are starting to nod in the verges, and a scattering of purple-pink crocuses dapple the floor of our own little wood at Jest Acres.

On the road to the surgery, roughly half way between Borchester and Ambridge, the road climbs sixty metres or so on to the Ambridge Escarpment. It’s a pretty enough stretch of road, but today, under Canaletto Blue skies suffused with the golden glow of the early morning sun, at this spot God is plainly in his heaven, and very little can be wrong with the world.

Governments come and go, as indeed do GP’s, students, suicidal teens and all the other trappings of modern existence. Yet some things still hint to us of eternity and perfection.

And in that context all the distractions of the past month boil away to nothing.




*For those who were wondering Dr J is indeed an unreconstructed hippie and flower-child who's formative years were profoundly affected by the Summer of Love. Not that you'd ever be able to tell nowadays.

7 comments:

BenefitScroungingScum said...

Funnily enough it was only the other day I thought you'd not posted for a while, glad to see you back and hear you're feeling brighter. The sunshine makes such a difference!
Chin up chuck, summer's on the way;) Bendy Girl x

Doctor Jest said...

bendy girl-- rest assured my newfound mental elevation (that's medic-speak for chin-uppishness, but it also rather suits the old mood swing too as it happens) has proven robust enough to survive, even though I got in to work to discover it was my duty surgery this afternoon.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you're back because I always enjoy reading your blog.

steveg said...

"under Canaletto Blue skies suffused with the golden glow of the early morning sun"

******

Pretty good doc - even reading it makes you feel good, never mind actually seeing it 10/10 and a gold star for composition!

The Govenrment and the media may be against you lads (and lasses), but trust me, your patients and all other GP's patients (well the majority of them anyway) are very appreciative of yout time and effortsand, given something positive to do to help, would gladly do so.

Best Wishes

Steve

Unknown said...

Dear Dr J

I'm all out of words (they are a finite commodity, it seems), so please excuse my recent reticence. Whilst you were being an unreconstructed hippie and flower child, I was learning to walk. :O

Good luck with the govt!

orchidea xxx

PS. Have re-sent the link. Maybe you should check your spam filter?

Elaine said...

So glad to hear you are back.

I was at that unfortunate age to have my potential hippy years before it all started, and once it got going I was pregnant or caring for young child/children. :-(

Doctor Jest said...

Thanks to you all for your kind comments. I'll try not to leave it so long between posts in future.

nutty-- thanks and welcome (or welcome back, I can't quite recall but think you have perhaps commented before, forgive me for not trawling back to find out).

steve-- it's good to know (though we all suspected as much)somebody out there loves us. If you want to lend your surgery your support I suspect they have a petition on their desk for you to sign, and you might want to write to your MP. Thanks again for your concern.

orchidea-- yes, I knew that disclaimer would get me into trouble.

The emphasis is more on the child that on the flower here, but I somehow absorbed the zeitgeist and feel permanently stuck in the era. Not that it's a bad place to be. Oh, and I did now receive the link. Interesting ;-)

elaine-- I can only comiserate :-(