The flow of the Ill had often taken me in its current. I had spent so long wandering along its banks and along the cobbled paths away from Petite France that I had rarely explored the local vicinity of my partner’s flat by Square des Moulins.

Adam Scovell – How Pale the Winter has Made Us

I’ve chosen today’s picture because, to me, it seems so typical of the French countryside. Something to do with the light and the even spacing of the trees. In fact, it was taken on a walk along the River Dee from Holt to Bangor-is-y-Coed.

The virus is coming closer to home. Several of my wife’s colleagues are self-isolating at home with possible symptoms, as is a district nurse friend. The daughter of another friend has just returned to her new role as a GP having been off work with (thankfully mild) COVID-19 symptoms. The common factor with all of these people is that they work in a frontline NHS role, as does my wife.

But it’s not just about frontline medical staff. This present crisis will, one hopes, give us all a greater appreciation of our minimum wage heroes: our delivery people, shop and warehouse people, care assistants and cleaners. An appreciation, not just expressed as a sentiment, but translated into decent wages and fair contracts. One can always hope.

Picture of River Dee near Holt, ©Bobby Seal