Skip to main content

Life goes on...

I don't usually do politics.  Occasionally I have felt like I should take an interest, as an intelligent citizen of a democratic country, but I get rapidly disheartened by all the name-calling, and my resolve quickly dissipates.  So I try to get enough information to make a reasonably informed vote, and that's that.

But on a day like today, politics is hard to ignore.  The EU referendum campaign involved at least as much name-calling and twisting of the truth as any other, and I felt even less qualified to make this decision than usual (how am I supposed to know anything about international trade agreements?  Does anyone know anything about international trade agreements?)  Being naturally inclined towards the status quo, I started off tending towards staying in, and didn't find any arguments compelling enough for me to switch sides.

So I am still slightly disbelieving that we actually decided to take the leap.  About the only thing I can think of to say is, Hopefully it won't be as bad as all that, really.  Most of the time, most of these large systems seem to self-stabilize somehow - probably because of all the actual decent politicians working away tirelessly behind the scenes - so even a large shove may prove less rocky than we think.  Or else the whole thing may capsize.

But for now, life goes on.  It's heartening to see that the sun still shines, and the flowers grow, and the birds sing in the trees despite our petty human dramas.  Out in the back garden, I have just spotted some tiny green tomatoes on my huge leafy tomato plants, and the strawberries are starting to ripen.


The two plants that I thought were courgettes suddenly shot up and revealed themselves as sunflowers - which is fine, too, but I don't know where they came from!


We have been eating rocket morning, noon and night for a while, but it's now gone irrevocably to seed.  There should be some spring onions hiding in there, so maybe they'll now get a chance to grow - the rocket went a bit more rampant than I expected.  And finally, I tried dwarf runner beans for the first time this year.  They look very pretty right now.  Hopefully they will become very tasty too.



So if you'll excuse me, I will step out of the world of politics again and go dig in a different kind of dirt.  One that was there before we all existed, and will still be there after we've gone.  In all the shouting and upheaval, I hope you find a place of peace today.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Language

For some reason baby equipment is an area in which American English differs markedly from British English. As well as learning how to care for a baby, we had to learn a whole new vocabulary! Fortunately we are now fluently bilingual, and I have compiled a handy US-UK baby dictionary for you. Diaper n. Nappy Mom says if you can read this change my diaper. The first time you change one of these you will be all thumbs and stick the little adhesive tabs to yourself, the baby and probably the changing mat before you get them where they ought to go. A few years later you will be able to lasso a running toddler and change them before they even know what's happened (yes, I have seen it done). You will also get through more diapers than you ever thought possible, creating scary amounts of expense and waste. Hence we are now mostly using: Cloth diaper n. Reusable nappy Cool baby. No longer those terry squares, the main drawback is that there are now so many types it can be qu
5 comments
Read more

our new apartment

Moving was a slightly surreal experience given that our new place looks almost exactly the same as the old one, except for being a different layout. That's what you get for living in a throw-'em-up-and-pack-'em-in apartment complex I guess - albeit a very nice one. So, entering apartment 433: To your right is the master bedroom: with en-suite bathroom: and looking back, from your left, that's a walk-in closet, door to the hallway and door to the bathroom: Following the layout so far? OK, go back to the hallway and put your back to the front door again, and this time walk straight forwards into the sitting room: As you can see, ahead of you is the door to the balcony: for which I have grand plans for a herb garden and other plants. Leading off the living room is the dining area: and if you walk through that and round to your right you reach the kitchen: Go back through the living room again: and if you turn right (
3 comments
Read more

Speedy Steamed Pudding

One of the highlights of being in catered halls for a couple of years at university was the sponge puddings. Great big sheets of chocolate or vanilla sponge, carved into hefty blocks and doused with thick custard. The main courses were edible at best, but those puddings would fill you up for a week. Good solid puddings, whether baked, steamed or boiled, have been a mainstay of English cooking for centuries. Something about the cold, damp, dark winters inspired British cooks to endless variations on suet, jam, currants, custard and other comforting ingredients. Once I left the nurturing environs of my parents' house and university halls, pudding stopped being an everyday affair and became a more haphazard, if-I-feel-like-making-any event. And steamed puddings especially, with their two hours over simmering water, don't really lend themselves to spur of the moment dessert-making. However, technology has moved on since those first days of puddings. I'd been vaguely
5 comments
Read more