| Photo by Jennifer Pittam Masks on Public Transport, June 2020 So early in February I spent a weekend with my father, who had recently been in hospital with a strange virus that we came to know as 'The Bug From Hell.' Like a kind of influenza, it seemed to have no runny nose or other cold symptoms, but jumped straight from high temperature, via loss of taste and sense of smell, to a barking cough and the most severe chest infection within 10 days. After a short, concerning period in hospital, he threw off the bronchitis. Feeling well but with an ominous scratchy cough, I left him and flew to Belfast for a long court case.  |
| Photo by Jennifer Pittam My Last 'Normal' Picture before Lockdown |
Photo by Jennifer Pittam
The River Lagan, Belfast - View from my Bedroom Window
How strange it seems, 12 weeks later in #Lockdown, to be working as a Clerk of the Court from my front room in London, hearing bail applications on Zoom instead of travelling all over the British Isles for work. How utterly indescribable that as I write, 41,000 British lives have been lost (that we know of) to a virus no-one had heard of before the Christmas holiday.
Photo by Jennifer Pittam
Snowdrops Emerge During my Long Court Case
My trip to Belfast was long and drawn out because that was the nature of the court case. The days when court rose early, allowed me, at first, to seek my bed as I grew more and more sick, merged into those when, still untested but gradually recovering, I explored that beautiful city.
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| Photo by Jennifer Pittam The Murals ~ A Feature of Belfast City |
From the day, several years ago, that I started work as a Clerk of the Court and knew that my specific role would take me all over Britain, I resolved that I would not look back on that period remembering airports, train stations, hotel bedrooms and nothing else. As soon as I check in I always ask for recommendations, things to do, places to see.
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| Photo by Jennifer Pittam Depict or Conceal ~ A City's History & Grief |
In Belfast I discovered an app on my phone - 'every visitor's guide' which mentioned the Botanical Gardens, the City Hall and the Titanic Exhibition. After that, it suggested, I should 'take a wander' through the streets to look at the City's famous murals.
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| Photo by Jennifer Pittam The 'Irish Language' Mural |
It was certainly a privilege to wander first around the obvious tourist spots but the murals? Barely 40 years ago, Belfast was a city engulfed by a brutal civil war. That's only half as long ago as World War II. Like many Londoners I have only to go back three generations to reach my immigrant Irish, Scots and Welsh ancestors. I have the stories my grandparents told me, passed to them by their own grandparents. Practically within living memory then. Making a sideshow out of the misery of others, especially when I have the family stories for added poignancy, does not sit well with me at the best of times.
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| Photo by Jennifer Pittam The Loyalist |
Still, with advice and directions from a kindly and knowledgeable court transcriber, I did take camera and writers' notebook and go, respectfully I trust, to see some of the pictures - stunning, heart-breaking, beautifully executed.
Photo by Jennifer Pittam
The Crown Bar ~ Once at the Centre of the Troubles
Which brings me to the artwork that's been springing up all over Britain during the Corona Virus Pandemic - the ubiquitous rainbow. Rainbow pictures originated in Italy, the first country outside China to be hit, in a most devastating way, by the virus. A spontaneous sign of hope, they were accompanied by the slogan 'andra tutto benne' (everything will be all right). For whatever reason, the idea caught on, and spread to the US, Canada, Spain and here in Britain with amazing speed. They're everywhere now, and very pretty they are. But the scars of Covid19 are likely to be deep, and wide. Will the rainbows be enough?
Photo by Jennifer Pittam
The Ubiquitous 'Stay Well, Stay Safe' Motto
It's great to stay positive, but who knows what the hidden casualties of the Corona Virus pandemic will be. JoJo Thomas drew this to our attention in one of her superb creative writing workshops this Sunday (Zoom, naturally). She finished with this great quote , which I've been using as my creative mantra all week:
Don't bend;
Don't water it down;
Don't try to make it logical;
Don't edit your own soul according to the fashion.
Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.
Franz Kafka 1883-1924
To find out more about JoJo Thomas's Creative Writing Workshops go here:
Jennifer Pittam has been published in: Aquarist & Pondkeeper, Astrology Monthly, Cosmopolitan, Ether Books, People's Friend, Prediction Magazine, Romany Routes, The Lady.
Competitions won: Coast to Coast Short Story Competition, 2nd Prize; Writers' Village Flash Fiction Competition, 1st Prize.
