Every day I read, hear and see terrible things going on round the world. I know I cannot change this as an individual but a mighty oak tree was once an acorn.

Rush, rush, rush without a thought or worry for others. Is this right? Of course not and at times I am as guilty as anyone else but sometimes its great to stop and look around or just think.

For example:-

I decided to go out for a bicycle ride yesterday, which in itself is not a remarkable action, and get dirty. So I made the choice of going to a local woodland area which has tracks running through it. If the objective was to get muddy then the goal was achieved and more. Oh what fun slipping and sliding and bouncing over rocks and fallen branches. Tiring too for my aging body and limbs but well worth the effort. Huge smiles and lungs full of fresh air. Birds were calling and singing to each other and the world, small furry creatures scurried and hid away and the scene was calm and rustic.

It was this that ultimately relaxed my mind, my body would argue this but had to knuckle down, and helped me do the right thing.

I noticed a car in the parking area that stood out from all the others. An expensive car and a new car. That wasn’t what was odd though. It was the fact that the boot lid was wide open with no owner in sight. I thought at first maybe they were laying down inside or were sitting on the rail putting boots on but no apart from the parked cars the place was deserted.

On closer inspection by eye, but not touch, I saw a wallet, purse, expensive binoculars, a camera and some expensive looking jackets. All on show and in handy reach for anyone to grab and run with.

My first thought was to just close the boot and leave but my practical sense asked if the owner had their key with them of if they had left it in their purse or wallet. If I closed the car up then they could be in a worse predicament.

As there was no-one about I made the choice of going to look for the owner and as luck would have it I found them quite soon into my search so I turned tail and returned to the car park to keep vigilance until they walked back.

It felt to good to do the right thing and even better to be told that everything was as it should be (apart from the boot lid being wide open) and there were smiles of relief and thanks.

Once all was secure we said our farewells and I resumed my ride and the couple went back to their weekend walk.

Circumstances could be very different if I had just ignored things and had carried on by.

My day went on and I felt relaxed and happy that a few strangers found relief.

Stopping now and then to help others, say good morning or give a gift does so much to grease the wheels of happiness and hope and its the mere fact that they are random that make them so powerful. Try it some time and see for yourself.

There has been a load of articles claiming that Global Warming has been a complete fraud and money-making scheme for the few who sold the ideas to the world leaders. Its cost us tax payers, if we believe what we are told, around £150 per household each year to fund these green deals.

This got me thinking a bit. Yes I know that is a dangerous thing for me to do with often disastrous results but think I did.

When I was at school around four decades ago (40 years) things felt  so different from what they do today.

You no doubt want me to explain this, so I will.

Okay. During the sixties, seventies and eighties winters felt like winters often with the playing fields frozen and unfit for use. It certainly felt very cold and I can remember shivering my way to and from school, between lessons and at times in the poorly heated classrooms.

Summers were warm and barmy affairs and long. There was true definition between the seasons too as I recall.

Over the last couple of years we may have experienced  a few extreme days of cold and heat during the opposite seasons but there has been fuzzy lines of focus on the seasonal changes and its been relatively mild all year round.

Why?

Is it that the older I get the more hardy I have become? I can’t see that really. Is it my selective and poor memory? Could be I suppose. Or could it be that we are experiencing Global Warming? Not in my mind.

I honestly think that it is a natural cycle.

Just take a look at some of the history books and clues are abundant. Roman Britain saw grapes being grown for wine, high yields of wheat and grain crops and fruits being sent around the nation. During the middle ages there were reports of wet and freezing conditions that caused famine and large areas of death and poor crop harvests. The Thames regularly froze over to allow skating and even carts to pass from one side to the other. The coast line of the UK has constantly changed over the years due to the Ice Age causing the land mass to tilt and gradually tilt back when the ice receded as the country warmed up again.

Soil samples, tree rings, fossils and land movements show a constant change in climate around the world from warm to cold, wet to dry and windy to calm.

Our pollution of the world by pumping out noxious gases, filling the oceans with plastic, oil, waste and harmful liquids can’t help destroy plants and animals which ultimately have an influence on climate but is it causing this hysteria of Warming or is it just making some natural climate changes happen a tiny bit quicker?

All I know is this. Nature is powerful, actions have an equal and opposite reaction and if you look closely enough there are cycles and patterns throughout history and we are just going through yet another.

For us older ones the world has and is changing rapidly. Not just in the social interaction and attitudes of the younger generations or the fact that the world population is getting near to full. Its how life and landscapes have changed and how we live today.

In The UK so many fields, that once were the focus of farmers, ramblers and keepers of the earth, have been concreted over and had unimaginative boxes placed on them. These boxes are small, over-priced, cheaply constructed and the bare minimum of technology put in them.

Compare our homes to our cars, computers, phones and any other aspect of our lives and they are still in the middle ages apart from the fact that they are smaller and worse built.

Why do we put up with it? Why buy these faceless cardboard eyesores?

The fact is that life really could be so much easier and simple if we demanded technology and forward thinking in our homes. Our homes also could be made so we could enjoy them for longer without being forced out because we no longer can cope.

For example:- Voice activated sockets and switches not only allow one to control lighting they can control anything that is plugged into the mains or can interact using Bluetooth. Doors and windows can be locked, ovens turned on, lights dimmed or brightened (along with on  and off), alarms set, music played on  demand and heating adjusted.

Just imagine if you were a bit unsteady on your feet or just were recovering from a broken leg. Being able to turn lights on, lock doors, close curtains and adjust the heating either by voice or via a smart phone or pad. Less having to get up and fewer chances of falling or being in pain.

Smart alarms to notify important bookmarks for the day like medication, walk the dog, water plants or change the bed.

Sadly, most new homes don’t even get equipped with WiFi or broadband let alone Smart technology. The New housing estate near me didn’t even have fiber broadband until the residents got together and campaigned for it to be retrospectively installed and even then it was only to the cabinet.

The government keeps banging on about making us world equals but we live with technology which is worse than some Third World countries.

Yet there doesn’t seem to be any way of improving things.

I’m not saying we all need robots and full automation. Far from it. Many live very happy lives (possibly happier) without modern technology. However, many more could not live without light, heat, WiFi, Bluetooth and the modern trappings offered by our ever-growing automation providers.

Robots could help again with the sickly, disabled, old and dependent ones in society and automation could delay having to go into a nursing home but more importantly take away the demands levied on carers and family members who struggle to cope from day-to-day. They would also ensure a decent level of care was given even when not being watched.

For the modern generation smart devices and automation are common place and they have grown up knowing little else as nearly every home has a smart phone, tablet, computer and tv. But take us older ones and the modern home (equipped at the expense and efforts of the owner not the huge rabbit warren estate builders) is a far cry from the houses we grew up in before the millennia.

So I for one am looking forward to being able to live in my little house, on my own, in relative comfort with my robot “Frank” and labour saving devices (that hopefully are labour saving and not just  faddy gadgets) with the knowledge I am safe and cared for.