It's a Monday, the second of November and it is very warm and sunny, indicating that summer is on the way. Which simultaneously means happy outside gatherings with lots of delicious food and lots of opportunities to cook something new, but also the danger of bushfires, and, on a more minor scale, hot sleepless nights, and sunburn.
The American elections are tomorrow and Melbourne is teetering on the edge of coming out of COVID19 lockdown. Yesterday we visited our younger son and his family in their new home. The first time in many months.
Big changes are on the way. Will 2020 be one of those significant dates in history like 1066, 1492, 9/11? Dates when everything changes, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time. Recognising, of course, that those dates are not necessarily significant for everyone - 1066 only mattered to the English and the French after all.
But sitting here in my garden with the birds chirping and cawing and screeching away - Australian birds don't 'sing' much - with, even in my untended garden, flowers gloriously blooming it is difficult to envisage an 'end of days' scenario. But then I have the real good fortune to be amongst the world's tiny élite - educated, comfortably off and living in a stable democracy. Our government has many faults, but they pale into insignificance in comparison to much of the rest of the world.
The view from the brink can be totally different for everyone. I imagine the man in the photograph is admiring the awe-inspiring view, and enjoying the pumping of adrenaline through his body. He could even be about to paraglide off the shelf. Or maybe he is considering plummeting to his death because the way forward seems to have disappeared. Personally I would never have been able to get out to there anyway, even if I had all manner of security ropes fitted to my body. But I do admire people who can. The experience would be mind-blowing. I have to settle for small and safe experiences like sitting in the garden on a sunny day.
In the next few weeks we shall know which path America has chosen to take and the rest of the world will hold its breath for the next four years if Trump wins. Whatever happens it will pass. As will the corona virus I guess - until the next one.
Most of us will continue to focus on our small little worlds and wonder what to cook for dinner for there is not a great deal that we ordinary people can do to influence the way the world goes.
So let's enjoy moving forwards. There will always be dangers ahead, but there will also be beauty and pleasant surprises just round the bend in the road,
Maybe even something delicious for dinner.
Corny I know but sometimes it seems the only way to survive the unimaginable. And people do - survive the unimaginable that is.
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