THE OPERA

Sure, you can’t take in a country-house opera this summer. But what of one of the core elements central to the experience – namely, dressing up and getting riotously day-drunk while enjoying a wildly indulgent picnic? This is still entirely possible, and should be actively pursued. Plus, with the help of a nearby garden, balcony or, at a push, open window, you can take in ‘nature’s opera’ – featuring high notes from your resident fox, accompanied by local feral cats. Just tell yourself it’s a deeply avant-garde new work and crack open the third bottle of champagne… Meanwhile, those who attend for the music rather than the alfresco festivities will enjoy the fact that the Royal Opera House is offering Friday-night premieres of some of its best works, as is the Met Opera.

One of the key frustrations of being cooped up inside is, of course, that the British summer is so tantalisingly, enticingly beautiful – all the more so due to the lack of recent human meddling. In the absence of cars and planes, suddenly the birds are louder, the skies are clearer, the streets are quieter, the fields are greener and the stars shine brighter. So these simple pleasures, at least, can and should be enjoyed, separately but as one, from the strange quietude of our homes. And next year, good grief, what a summer we will have.