In the Doldrums...

Though The Phantom Tollbooth was published 60 years ago, author Norton Juster predicted the many longeurs of lockdown. Milo lands in the Doldrums, a land of greyness where nothing happens and nothing ever changes. The inhabitants - the Lethargarians - are busy doing nothing, and are on a tight schedule.

“At 8 o'clock we get up, and then we spend from 8 to 9 daydreaming. From 9 to 9:30 we take our early mid-morning nap. From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay. From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap. From ll:00 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch. From l:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter. From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap. From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today. From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap. From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner. From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally. From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time. As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stopped to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done”.

Milo manages to escape from the Doldrums by using the power of his imagination. My own exit strategy - drinking lighter fluid - is proving to be less effective.

Cottages in Nun Monkton...