Just Now

The children are sitting on the swing off the tall tree in the back of the garden. Their voices caress the wind and the sun light is dancing on their faces. The apple tree outside my window is clad in plump blossoms and for a moment I am inclined to forget all that needs mending. For a moment, it is just this, the moment itself. Just this one, just now.

Ever noticed....?

We are constantly making progress and yet we are inching in on the end.

Bananas

There is a new generation of “printers” on the market that can produce 3D copies of any given blueprint. The biggest demand is for semi-automatic weapons. Well done, guys. Really impressive. Come get your bananas!

Tasty Lemonade

I have become very skilled at making lemonade from lemons over these past months. J.’s teacher was let go rather suddenly after class dynamics spun out of control and we found ourselves with a succession of substitutes - all well meaning but uncommitted - and so we went back to home ed. What a lucky break! J. and I are having a ball. Our latest coup was to fly to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands to learn how to swim (the season tends to be a bit short here) and to take a closer look at volcanic rock. I really enjoy being back in the game for a while. It is also really handy to know how to read, J. agreed.

Oooh-ah-ah !

It’s a strange thing that we are unwilling to accept or even admit how much of our system is running on primate hardware. Instead of acknowledging the power of our basic operating system, which sends us off on an often cruel fight for survival whether on the battle field or the office floor, we claim divine origins.

How unenlightened is that?

Unwilling to admit our humble motivations, we hide our primitive roots only to have them undermine our deepest aspiration: to be special. But we are not. Men continue to sniff each other out to determine status, they rival over resources and territory, sex with many continues to be preferable than monogamy, and aggression, in some form or another, still establishes superiority.

All the while, the female watches on and wonders who the winner might be. Really, quite basic despite moon landings, microchips and Monet.

The Growth Malady

Let’s face it, growth spurred by aggressive marketing and consumerism has more negative externalities, namely waste and excessive pollution, than long-term benefits. And whether the boost to the GDP is really going to promote positive growth in secondary areas to counteract the negative output it creates remains to be seen. As long as politics, business, finance and industry remain closely entangled, there is very little hope that overall growth will sustainably improve our quality of life, much less so that it will do so evenly and fairly. On some level, we already know it - but for better or for worth, we don’t want to do anything about it. Not yet. I guess we still haven’t reached Act V...