Monday, September 26, 2016

There but for fortune


I'm lying in Isaac and Wendy's hammock and this is the view. The family is out and the house is quiet: the cicadas are not. I'm in heaven.

This morning I went for a glorious, sunny bike ride with Wendy. Cece was in the trailer. I managed to keep up more or less, but cycling in a place a mile high is harder than cycling at home. I am always surprised by this. I get breathless because the air is thin. 



We called in for lunch at the Wholefoods buffet ( There was a dress code: shoes and shirts were mandatory. When have you ever seen a dress code on the door of a British supermarket?) There was a vast array of delicious food....fabulous salads, hot food, cold cooked food, food for vegans, veggies, carnivores, and omnivores. And the plates, cartons, cups and cutlery were biodegradable. My box was compostable: my food delicious.


When I got home I checked my email and read the nightly news bulletin I get from Channel 4 News at home. The headline was the relentless bombardment of Aleppo. The tragedy that is Aleppo. The second story was the refugee camp in Calais. Another tragedy - people fleeing the horrors of war, violence and starvation, trying to get to the UK for sanctuary and finding an unbreachable barrier that is a heartless government.

How fortunate am I? I am safe and fed, and my family is safe and fed. We all have homes. I don't ever want to forget how lucky I am.



1 comment:

marmee said...

been talking recently with a friend about this remembering...realising, acknowledging what one has to be grateful for, and being grateful.

I find i do not have words for the notion that the mere fact of being born in say Europe makes someone more valuable, better, entitled to life's blessings than a Syrian or an Iraqi or a Somali....somehow it feels even worse than racism.

BUT lovely to hear about your family joys...