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This week I've been thinking about appointments and queuing...!

I'm pleased to report that I've had my first vaccination and had only to walk down the road to receive it at my local centre.

There was a queue of quite a few minutes to wait outside - apparently there were a few problems with the check in desk. But everyone was content to stand patiently, enjoying the spring sunshine and exchanging a few words of friendly conversation with the steward before stepping inside the hall for the deed itself.

Everything was run very calmly, confidently and efficiently and there was a warm, friendly, collaborative atmosphere. I'm sure we were all very grateful to everyone who is playing their part in making this particular service possible. A short delay was no hardship.

Of course, our daily schedules are different these days and we are making more allowances for things taking a little bit longer than usual. But will we be willing to stand quietly and patiently in line when things get back to normal? Perhaps we shouldn't expect everything to happen to our own personal timetable. And perhaps there are benefits of things taking a little longer.

I've had cause to use other medical practices in recent months and I've noticed that the staff, who in other times might have seemed rather tense and hurried, now appeared happy, attentive and relaxed.

The restrictions ensuring distance and cleanliness are not ideal but they have set clear parameters, recognised and, generally, accepted by all. Perhaps those boundaries have allowed staff a new freedom to give more time to their patients and we are all valuing personal interactions more deeply.

We never doubt the dedication of medical staff, of course, and there's a profound reminder of their care and compassion in my recommended reading this week.

Michael Rosen's new book relates his experience of suffering from Covid. His memories and observations are presented in verse, but he also includes a number of letters written to him by members of the medical teams caring for him during his time in intensive care.

These messages are incredibly moving, willing him to recovery with great warmth and affection, written at the end of emotionally and physically demanding shifts. It is clear they never once forgot the person in their care.

While Michael's gratitude to them is present in his writing, it is also evident how great a toll the illness has played on his life. It was interesting, then, to hear the novelist Maggie O'Farrell on Desert Island Discs this week.

She had a serious illness as a child and talks about how she feels she wasn't the same person after the event as she had been before. She also says she is forever grateful for the life that she has been able to lead subsequently. It's a fascinating interview. If you remember, Maggie joined us in Woodbridge three years ago to talk about her memoir 'I Am, I Am, I Am'. Take a look here.

What if... Two short words which may invoke all sorts of emotions and strong feelings. What if things had been different? What if that could happen?

Both these perspectives dominated in conversations I had recently when I was talking to authors about inspiration for their recent work.

Esther Freud is well known for remembering her unusual and exotic childhood in her novel 'Hideous Kinky' but her latest book imagines what if her mother had made different decisions.

The new book, called 'I Couldn't Love You More', is published in May and Esther will be speaking to me about it at the Felixstowe Book Festival in June - the programme, which hopes to combine 'real life' and online events, is being launched tomorrow here.

Danny Wallace is known for his 'big concept' ideas for events, books, films, tv programmes, where he explores 'what if...' to an extraordinary degree, and often with stunning results. 

What if you said yes to everything? What if people stopped being rude? What if thousands of people performed a random act of kindness every week?

For his latest book, for children, Danny imagines what if all the technology failed. How would we cope? This could have turned into a horror story, but it is a children's madcap adventure so it's rather lovely, and, for Danny, it turned out to be an excuse to revisit life as it was in his childhood! My interview with Danny will appear in 'Suffolk' magazine soon.

While undoubtedly 'what if' sparks all sorts of ideas creatively, we might find speculating about the future to be more helpful than looking at past decisions or events. After all, this might be something we can influence. So as we consider the end of our current circumstances, what if... we shopped locally? we spoke to our neighbours more often? we didn't use aeroplanes so often? we lived more simply? What if we could make a difference?

I was interested to hear Dame Louise Casey on Desert Island Discs this week talking about her work with the homeless. When she chose Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World', she wondered why it wasn't selected by castaways every week. Even though she sees terrible things through her work, she said that she was always reminded that no matter how dark things can get, this is still a wonderful world.

You may need to recall this message as you take a look at my recommended non-fiction title this week. It's a very troubling read but it's so beautifully written and it's important not to shut our hearts and minds to what other people are experiencing. At the very least it can remind us of how much we should be grateful for in our own situations. 

Tomorrow we take the first step towards the end of restrictions, we hope, as the children go back to school.

I'm sure there is some trepidation or at least mixed feelings among the young people, so I was encouraged to hear how, once again, the teachers were throughtfully and creatively seeking to reassure their pupils.

In Bexleyheath, London, the PTA purchased 380 teddy bears, one for each child, and sat them in the hall as if they were attending assembly. The headteacher recorded a message instructing the bears to prepare for the children's return and sent it to all the parents. You can take a look here.

And in Telford, the pupils were each sent the piece of a jigsaw puzzle to decorate. When they return to school, they will be invited to link the pieces in the understanding that 'we're all in this together'.

These are lovely ideas. And I think we may all find aspects of community difficult when we are finally able to meet again fully both in socialising and working together.

Thank you to everyone who got in touch about this month's read on BBC Radio Suffolk. It was great to receive so many comments about Jojo Moyes' novel 'The Giver of Stars'. This story about the Kentucky horseback librarians certainly seems to have captured our imagination. I hope you'll consider taking a look at next month's book 'The Authenticity Project'. It's an interesting idea, and a real page-turner, so scroll down for more details about getting involved.

We've found more to talk about this week with the release of a timetable for the  easing of lockdown, and the spring sunshine lifting our spirits.

Despite the positive spin, though, we still have a few weeks before we can be out and about as we might like - or visit the bookshop.

It's lovely to have a phone call with a friend, or chance upon a neighbour across the garden fence, but the conversation is usually rather limited (though let's not knock it - if our week has been uneventful, that's something for which we should be grateful!).

As life is lacking significant moments at present, I've found it's been a great time to share memories with friends and family. In 'normal' times, things were often so frantically busy that, no sooner had we enjoyed one holiday, party or cultural visit than we were on to the next one. Perhaps now we have an opportunity to relive those experiences and be reminded of things that have slipped our minds with the passage of time.

Certainly my memory has been rather unreliable in recent months. Whether it's due to age or the times we're living in, I find that I have better recollection of a conversation or event from years ago than I do from something that happened yesterday!

I was interested, then, to read about Dame Judi Dench recently. I've always loved the fact that she used to stitch embroidery while she was waiting to go on stage but now I've read that she memorises a poem or learns a new word each day to keep her mind active. What a lovely challenge - shall we give it a go?!

Thank you for reading.

The first lockdown was all about birdsong and banana bread, according to one newspaper article this week in the usual desire to label and alliterate.

There have been numerous permutations on our collective experience since then but, now that we are coming full circle, it's been wonderful to feel the sun on our faces and see delicate snowdrops bobbing in the breeze. We may not be baking as much in this lockdown, but I'm sure we're all delighting once more in hearing the birds singing. Spring is on its way, and we can dare to hope for the future once more.

The restorative power of nature has been documented extensively, and is widely acknowledged in our recent difficult and unusual times.

Appropriately, on Tuesday we're marking 200 years since the death of the great Romantic poet John Keats, the author of 'Ode to a Nightingale' which inspired the poet Ruth Padel recently:

"Sleepless in lockdown, I heard a robin belting out its song in the middle of the night and thought of Keats," she said. "A beautiful song and a little spark of hope. A perfect example of where poetry can take us, why we need it."

She is one of three poets who have been commissioned by The Poetry Society to acknowledge Keats' work in some new writing. There is a free event on Tuesday, details are here. But another more surprising figure involved in the celebrations is Bob Geldof who will lead an immersive video tour of the Keats-Shelley House in Rome. Find out more here or listen to the recent Radio 4 programme here.

Meanwhile, the nature writer Richard Mabey celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday, and I've chosen his fascinating memoir 'Nature Cure' as my recommended title this week. In it he talks of his move to East Anglia, his depression, and his inspiration from the life and work of that wonderful pastoral poet John Clare as well as beautiful observations of wildlife and fauna. You can read an appreciation of his work, by Tim Dee here or read my interview with Richard here.

One of the latest generation of nature writers, Melissa Harrison has spoken about how a passion and appreciation for the natural world is the best motivation for individuals playing their part in influencing climate change and environmental issues. And the lead character in the children's title I've recommended this week, illustrates this beautifully. 'The Last Bear' is the most moving and magical account of a threatened polar bear and encourages us all to think about our individual responsibility in being part of the problem and also being part of the solution, taking action before it's too late.

No polar conditions here any more, of course, and another indication of spring soon being upon us is the launch of this year's programme of author talks from the UEA this week. They are taking place online most Wednesday evenings until May, and there's  a £5 fee to hear some extraordinary speakers. This week the award-winning author Tsitsi Dangarembga will be talking about the success of her 2020 Booker Prize shortlisted novel 'This Mournable Body'. Read more about the programme here.

Finally, don't forget that tomorrow evening we'll be joining together on Zoom to talk about 'The Girl with the Louding Voice'. Everyone is welcome to log on to these virtual discussions. Just reply to this email and I'll send you the details. And if you call by Browsers Bookshop in Woodbridge on Tuesday morning, you'll be able to pick up the title we'll be talking about in our March meeting.