Animal magnetism- zoos, safari parks and non essential shops. Britain partially re-opens.

Animal magnetism- zoos, safari parks and non essential shops. Britain partially re-opens.

Oh well! We're halfway there but not quite. It's the beginning of the week and lockdown could be partially opened as from today but don't bet on any grand opening ceremony with bells and whistles because that maybe a couple of months away. Still, the non essential shops are back up and running, people are beginning to believe in miracles and hopefully society will return to something like its chipper ways in the not too distant future.

The problem we have is that we are still very much in the dark, neither here nor there, waiting patiently for something really unforgettable to happen when the truth is that nobody knows when normal service, as we used to know it, will be resumed with a vengeance. We know where we are at the moment and it does feel encouraging but the fact is that having seen the West End of London this morning there is still something grey, gloomy and nebulous about London that doesn't make you want to dance in the streets and hug perfect strangers in sheer relief and joy.

We are now halfway through June and on the verge of the longest day of the year. Midsummer would normally be the catalyst for thousands of people to descend on Stonehenge and watch the sunrise in all of its amber glory. But this is surely no time to be spiritual or religious so you may prefer to concentrate the mind on more down to earth and practical matters. You can still hardly hear a pin drop outside and that has to be worrying.

Anyway, the next piece of great news is that Britain is re-opening all of its zoos and safari parks which is brilliant news for all of those lonely lions, cheetahs, monkeys, penguins, rhinos, hippos, birds, tigers, camels, elephants and llamas. You could go through the entire list of the animal population but let's keep this one short. Or maybe not. Still, it's a delightful prospect and how we've longed for this day.

The fact is that all the frustrated kids, their parents and grandparents can finally be re-acquainted with the animal kingdom, that magical world of sheep, lambs, cows, bleating, mooing, roaring, swinging from trees, prowling around their pens while hunting big cats and wandering, loitering, sluggish, beautiful beasts of the wild can finally let their hair down.

Soon enough families will take to the road in their highly secure Range Rovers or Land Rovers driving casually through Longleat and every other safari park safe in the knowledge that this could be a very special moment not only for the kids but also for mum and dad, grandma and grandpa. Who cares whether those monkeys, ocelots and lemurs, leap on to the windscreen and try desperately to snap off the wipers? Who cares whether those grumpy, cantankerous lions and lionesses start circling your bumpers or checking out your axles and of course those wheels and tyres. They're only trying to be friendly after all. Or are they? It's safe to say that they've probably missed the human race. The feeling is reciprocal.

And this is  probably the point. Does the human race feel as if it should really be grasping the nettle, jumping into our cars, buses and trains when it knows in its heart that this is all very hit and miss, a calculated but scientific gamble that could go badly wrong? Half of the West End of London is privately wondering whether they should while the other half can't wait to buy their first pair of shirts and trousers for at least six months. The dilemma is an obvious one.

The fact is of course the heart of the West End of London is still receiving treatment for deep- seated wounds and injuries possibly requiring even more surgery. That heart though is still on a ventilator and recuperating very slowly. The West End, it has to be said, is still in intensive care and breathing very irregularly. This may sound very exaggerated and overdramatic but we are not where we would like to be.

We are not booking tickets to see our favourite West End musical because we haven't a clue whether we'll be able to see a musical any time this year. We can't sit outside a Costa, Nero, or Pret A Manger coffee and snack shop because the doors are locked, the ominous signs are up in the window and the wonderfully perfumed smell of black coffee, latte or mocha is still a distant memory. Although extortionately expensive, we used to love going into the local cafe for a bite to eat and just winding down for an hour.  Now we discover that this treat will have to go on hold for another fortnight or so.

Now though those same cafes and restaurants will have to wait until the fourth of July which still sounds like just a random day. And yet July 4 is American Independence Day so whether this has been deliberately planned to coincide with America's happiest of days is immaterial.  The fact is that we can eat and drink to our hearts content as long as the service charge doesn't amount to a small mortgage.

There is a growing reality that we are still half in and half out at the moment. The powers that be keep insisting that we keep 2 metres away when the rest of the world- or a vast majority of it- is only a metre or so give or take a couple of centimetres. Are we being asked to take a tape measure out with us in case it's beyond anybody's calculation? Or do we simply keep us far apart from our fellow human being as it's possible to be.

Sport of course has come flying out of the blocks and there is a feeling of delayed euphoria. Of course we welcome sport's presence.  However, the whole potty issue of football's very materialistic rush back to its Premier League multi- million- moneymakers has been frequently discussed on these pages. On Wednesday evening though Manchester City will take on Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium and Aston Villa will be up against Sheffield United at Villa Park.

We all know what's going to happen or not as be it the case. Nobody but nobody will be allowed into any Premier League grounds and what will ensue will be like nothing like we've ever seen in the glory, glory world of football. In fact to call it a spectacle would be a strange kind of euphemism because quite clearly it won't be.

So here goes more or less a month of quite the most extraordinary silence and tranquillity ever to fall upon English football. You suspect that at some point you may hear more noise among Trappist monks in a monastery so chilling and cold will it all feel. It'll probably feel like being stuck in a cave or even an underground chamber for interminable hours, weeks and months. Or maybe another adaptation of Robinson Crusoe where Crusoe runs out of twigs and sticks to keep warm. The Premier League may have to get used to this very remote desert island in the middle of nowhere.

Still, football has, or so it would seem, made a rod for its own back and we hope that this experiment, whether enforced or not, will work out for the best. We look forward to the Premier League restart with great excitement in our hearts. We are counting the hours down until Liverpool deservedly clinch the Premier League title in front of rows of unoccupied plastic seats, a crisp bag fluttering in the breeze or the occasional fog horn of some sea going vessel on the Mersey. The Anfield Kop will become no more than the Anfield whisper. Oh for the overwhelming sense of anti climax of it all.

Then of course there's the cancelled Wimbledon tennis and, above all, the cricket Test matches against West Indies which used to be the definitive sporting fixture during the 1970s. How we used to thrill to the master blaster brilliance of Viv Richards batting, those gorgeously atmospheric steel drums and Gordon Greenidge driving the ball mightily through the covers for either a six or four. Then there was the neat and tidy Alvin Kalicharran, sweetly clipping his shots eloquently off the back and front foot.

Cricket though may not come out to play until the beginning of August which only adds to the lopsided nature of the sporting calendar. It is at this early part of August that the FA Cup Final will be crammed in tightly into what feels like an exceptionally hurried schedule. Everything about the recent developments within sport and everything coronavirus has, quite obviously upset the balance of our lives or maybe it hasn't and you're all doing splendidly in which case apologies are in order.

We are of course being admirably resourceful, more domesticated perhaps than we've ever been and those kids rainbow drawings have been fabulous and very symbolic. But the thought occurs to you that at some point during the summer most of us will be craving proper family gatherings with no private fears or misgivings, shopping in our millions, laughing and singing along with West End musicals, crying and smiling at cinema romantic comedies and generally having a fantastic time.

In the meanwhile let us be grateful for the re-opening of zoos and safari parks because our animal friends just haven't been the same. They've been moody, withdrawn, probably quite depressed if truth be told. You'd be inclined to think that this is the best day of the year for all animals across Britain. But beware those bears because they've probably still got sore heads. Or possibly not.