Bored

Bored, bored with feeling ill all the time. Bored with the crippling headaches, fed up with the shooting pains in my limbs, fed up with constant neck pain, tired of feeling vague, tired of being tired, down about feeling down, cheesed off with losing grip in my hands, fed up with the lack of mobility in my joints, fed up with forgetting, tired of not sleeping, hacked off about not being able to do a full day's work, bored with not be able to walk far. Tired of feeling ill.

Sorry about that.

My good friend EC Hunter has published his first book: Windigo

The Gun Thing

I won't deny it, I like to shoot and I like a nice gun or rifle. I like turning a clay target into a puff of dust, I like punching tiny holes in pieces of paper at unfeasibly long distances. These are things I can do, I can't hit a golf puck and I don't know one end of cricket racquet from the other. I love the engineering and accuracy of a modern sporting rifle, I could stare for hours at the craftsmanship of a hand made English gun, they can truly be works of art. I make no apologies for this. People make no apologies for loving cars or motorcycles, riding horses or flying down a mountain on skis, indeed why should they? If one is careful and considerate, trained and educated problems will be minimised. Not entirely without risk, obviously, when we take on life on this planet, risks are attached and have, in some measure, to be accepted. It's about attitude.

Where am I going with this? No doubt you will have seen on the news that yet another mass shooting has taken place in the USA. Tragic, pointless and grim. I can't pretend to know why these things happen but one thing I am certain of is that there is no need for civilians to own assault weapons. Yes, I know that mass killings could take place with a pair of hand crafted Holland and Hollands...but have they, ever? No. I doubt it. I am certain that owning these types of weapon can only breed a certain attitude, after all, what are they made for. Killing people, that is all, that is what they are made for. There can be no argument that they have a use in hunting, none at all. Even I, a fairly low-level stalker these days probably shoot more deer in a season than the average American hunter does in a lifetime (the irony being that their wildlife laws are far stricter than their gun laws in many cases) and I do it very well with a bolt-action sporting rifle. What about home defense? Surely assault weapons have a place there? No, if you must have a weapon for home defence then any shotgun will do the job. What else? Well, I have seen folks on the TV running about with them playing at soldiers. If you want to do that JOIN THE ARMY. I really can't think of a valid reason for owning one and if I were a citizen of the USA I would not want 'my right to bear arms' to be responsible for the death of even a single child. Come on shooters of America, sort yourselves out, you have a great country and incredible opportunities. With rights come responsibilities.

A Year On

I was just reading a post I made a little over a year ago. In it I mentioned my hands were becoming a concern following my wrestle with 'suspected' Lyme disease (it's only the doctor who says suspected, I don't!). Without doubt they are worse, so are my hips, knees, back, neck and shoulders. The vagueness hasn't got too much better, nor the lethargy, nor the headaches. I don't write this as a 'poor me' but merely to warn. We are almost at the end of the tick season now but spring will see the little beggars emerging again ready to offload their burdens into YOU. Be aware, know the symptoms, know how to remove ticks properly and know when to take yourself to your doctor.

What next? Well, I could go and get more antibiotics but I'm not inclined to. I still don't have a proper diagnosis. His answer was 'yes, it's most likely Lyme'. Multitudes of blood tests have proved inconclusive but as anybody who's read anything about it knows, the tests aren't infallible. One thing is for certain. I have arthritis and it's unpleasant and I don't really know what to do next. Thank heavens for Naproxen and free prescriptions.

There's a decidedly autumnal feel out there this morning. The midge population is dropping away (heaves sigh of relief), birch seeds are fluttering down like snowflakes and the bracken is turning.

Talking of bracken a couple of weeks ago the helicopter was here to take advantage of the 'Asulox Window'. Oh dear, what a palava. Half the population are up in arms about their water supply/vegetables/bees/washing/heaven knows what. The other half would like to see a little less bracken. Well, I fall into the less bracken category without doubt. Damned invasive, tick harbouring plant that it is. But what about the others? Well, I grew up on an arable farm and sprays hold no terror for me but I suppose these folks who grew up in towns and have heard nothing good about chemicals perhaps needed a bit of hand-holding before the helicopter descended. A little bit of prior information might have gone a long way to help acceptance. I'd better say no more.

What about the wider world? I sit here in a very small corner of it and watch as world unravels before me. I don't quite know why but I get the feeling that our wee planet is in greater danger now than it has been for many years. Perhaps ever. It seems clear to me that the Syrian problem is a front for Obama and Putin to orchestrate another World War. Why? Easy. Just read 1984. We should listen to Orwell. This is about money, it's about control, it's about vested interests.

Then there's Fukushima. It's pouring radioactive waste into the Pacific. Already fish are being caught off the West coast of America which are hemorrhaging from their eyes. This is not good. This is doubleplusungood.

So there we have it, a depressing little start to a sunny Sunday morning. Sorry about that.

The Biggest Issue

This is not going to be popular but then I’ve never worried much about being popular. I’m sure others are saying this too but this is my take.

All the problems of this planet are caused by over population. Not of rats or Japanese knotweed. Not of cockroaches or termites. Of HUMANS. Various estimates put the maximum population that this poor planet can accommodate at between 1.5 and 4bn. We are well over that now and growth is unfettered and exponential.

We see a starving child on the TV and our hearts go out. The personal tragedy is heart rending. We phone up and pledge money and maybe save that child. For what? To salve our own conscience? Certainly partially. Is there actually such a thing as true altruism? Doubtful. But that is a separate issue.

Back to that starving child, see the flies crawling round its mouth, its distended belly, crusted eyes and skeletal limbs. We save that child with a dribble of gruel and a shot of vitamins. Project forward twenty years, perhaps that child has fathered another two, three, four children it can’t support, perhaps another drought or famine or war has occurred in the area. Never mind, the ‘altruists’ step in again and off we go for another round.

Meanwhile in a prosperous western country every year the older generation just gets, well, older. Advances in medicine and care keep people alive much longer than their three score years and ten. There are fewer still births, prosperity encourages people into large families, social support encourages people into large families. People who should die from diseases don’t.

Even modern wars don’t encourage wholesale killing like wars of old.

But why is this important? Why should we care? Every human on the planet creates more demands on our finite resources, creates more waste and leaves less room for nature's systems to function. One day those systems will cease to function and the Old Testament will read like a holiday brochure.

So there we have it, unfettered breeding, more people living longer and nature’s traditional culling methods being over-ridden at every turn. So what is the solution? Can anything actually be done? As far as I can see the only thing we can hope for is personal responsibility. Replace yourself and nothing more. But will this happen? No, of course not. Lack of comprehension of our situation, lack of education, lack of giving a damn.

Our time on this planet is running out.

The Passing of Childhood

I only went in to turn and vacuum the mattress. It seemed like a useful thing to do during my enforced holiday from the world of woodlands. On every available surface in the room was the ephemera of childhood. Tractors of every make, size and colour, implements to match. Books, magazines, drawings. The games, both favourite and unplayed were piled on shelves. Keepsakes and treasures, dust covered and seemingly forgotten. The soft toys still piled on the bed looked forlorn and lonely. Over this was spread the occasional newer item. A climbing magazine, a pair of hiking socks, the tag from his new tent. A stick of deodorant, a photograph of a bunch of friends at school, all wearing ties and smart jackets. A single shin pad, a pack of new mackerel lures and a used iTunes card lay on the carpet.

I sat down on the bed and looked at the scene, feeling despair at the passing of a childhood, a sadness at this small death. As I looked though, something changed in me. He was my little boy and always will be, now he’s my big boy and he’ll always be that too. We must embrace the change we see in our children, we must help and guide them on their next steps on the journey to adulthood, just as we did with those first faltering steps all those years ago. Now as I look I see hope for the future, bright, engaged, intelligent hope.

He’ll be home from school in just a few short weeks, his first year complete and then the page will turn, the next chapter will start and we will walk into it together.