Be Mindful About Norwegian Blankets...

Smith and Dench, lost in
Florence. The little known
prequel to Home Alone:
Lost in New York.

In 1985's Room With a View, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are wandering the backstreets of Florence when they get lost. 'Two lone females in an unknown city. Now that's what I call an adventure' Judi asserts. It always reminds me of a holiday I once had. 2005. Oslo. Me and my mate. Two women with open minds and Ryanair tickets, living the dream. We were there for five days in May. My main memory is there was a lot of light. We'd be sitting outside a bar at one in the morning, the sky still blue, wondering why we were yawning past ourselves. It was a cracking holiday. Properly good fun. Two lone females in an unknown city, having a right good adventure.

Oslo. Blankets. The dream.

The reason I bring this up now, is I've been having flashbacks. Every time I see a pub or restaurant advertise their post-lockdown opening, it's got Oslo 2005 written all over it. Why? Because back then, my mate and I had a plan. We were going to bring home one of the features of outdoor Norwegian life that we had loved. We were on a mission. The feature we were bringing back? Simple. Blankets in beer gardens. You know. For when it's well into the night, you're still drinking, but the only seats are outside in the cold. Oslo was full of it. Every bar we passed had a pile of blankets outside. There were often heaters as well. Sometimes big umbrellas and screens. For a country with large parts of the year in the dark, they had adapted to their climate. They weren't using chilly night-time weather as a reason to stay home. Outdoor boozing under a cosy Ikea blanket - we've all got them, right? - was one of the take-home memories of the trip. 

Well hang on to your hats because sixteen years and one pandemic later, we've done it. My mate and I have successfully introduced outdoor blankets to the UK. You're welcome! For a country that's cold most of the time, I've no idea why it hasn't happened before now. Norway was on it years ago. It seems the UK needed a global pandemic to realise the full potential of outdoor service. But it's not just blankets in bars that the pandemic has nudged into being. There are other adaptations that the COVID has ushered in that I want to stay. When 'the new normal' became a phrase last year, it was generally accepted it meant we would never return to the freedoms we once took for granted. Now, I don't think it's as bleak as that. Perhaps the new normal is a hybrid experience. Consisting of the ability to socialise and leave the house, combined with the best bits of lockdown ingenuity. For those that care, here's what lockdown features I hope will continue. 

There was a lot of this in 2020

Meal Kits
From March 2020 I celebrated every weekend with a takeaway. But their regular inclusion in my week meant they lost their specialist status. Whilst I was happy to have a chippy tea for 42nd birthday, I wanted to up my game for my 43rd. There are so many restaurants, nationwide, that adapted and sold meal kits for special occasions. Several of them are continuing to do so, and I'm made up.

 
Streaming Films
I can't wait to go to the cinema again. That's a basic fact. But having new releases be available from the comfort of my home, has been brilliant. If my job were busier, or I had little kids, or I wasn't a fan of crowds, it would make being a film fan way easier. I hope the gap between cinema releases and home streaming continues to be teeny and we get the best of both worlds. 

PJ Days
In the olden days I worked from home two days a week. Looking back, I have no idea why I wore outdoor clothes and bothered with makeup. What an absolute waste of my time. I look forward to having regular PJ days as an established part of my week. It'll make the time I actually leave the house, something to dress up for. 

People Power

When the shit hit the fan and everything stopped, some people didn't. The NHS got plaudits and claps, and rightly so. But the pandemic drew sharp focus on the delivery drivers, the supermarket staff, and the warehouse workers. Let's never again forget people that make the world work but for crappy money and very little job security. If the highlight of my weekend is a Dominos pizza, the person that delivers it - risking their own heath whilst being swamped with orders on a Friday night - deserves a decent tip and a tonne of respect. In the future, we must remember the wide range of people and roles we rely on, to both function as a society as well as make things lovely.

Mindful Pleasures
It's easy to say now, but we can't take things for granted again. For some, it'll be the live giggles of their grandkids that they've missed. For others perhaps it's family get togethers in general. Or maybe people have missed the freedom to escape and go on holiday. For me, the thing I've craved  - forgive me for being shallow - is the first sip of a draft pint. I've had the first sip of a draft pint thousands of times in my life. I pledge never again to take it for granted. Whether it's team sports, travel, or family stuff, it's the simple pleasures that sustain us. I'm planning to be aware of them, always, and never assume they're in infinite supply.

So there we have it. Shops are browsable. Restaurants are visitable. Families are meetable. I'll be doing all those things in due course. But first, let me sit outside, grab a blanket, and enjoy the first sip of my draft beer. Being mindful and grateful at all times, of course. 

Have a lovely week, folks.