You can't do it anyway!

Most of my friends, acquaintances,  neighbours, callers, are ,let's say, "over sixties".   Sooner or later during the course of our chat we get talking about things along the lines of 'what is the world coming to?'   And not long afterwards  he or she (or they) will say -'I wouldn't want to be young now'.

I'm sure the same happens with you all.

Well, let'sface it, none of us could be, even if we wanted to be.   As Benjamin Franklin said - the only certainties in life are death and taxes (or something like that).

This week there have been a couple of programmes on BBC2 about the Mediterranean; not the Med that the giant cruise liners show you as you go around on your giant floating hotel (heaven forbid - never my choice of holiday) but the murkier side.  We went to the 'toe' of Italy - to Puglia- to Sicily, to Cyprus, to Lebanon, to The Gaza Strip, to Israel amongst other places  and let me tell you - the picture was not a pretty one.

It was one of old feuds going back many years, of religious differences, of huge  areas of poverty, of neglect, of evidence of war-torn areas long ago where no clearing and rebuilding had taken place, of complete absence of women on the streets anywhere but in the markets buying food to lug home in heavy bags to cook for their menfolk.   There was often a tense atmosphere,  sense of foreboding hanging in the air.   Nowhere was this more evident than in The Gaza Strip.   But there was nowhere anyone would have cared to go to on holiday, or in many cases could have gone had they wished to.

It was all proof that things have always been thus - there never has been a time when the world was a happy, peaceful place, where there was no religious hatred, or discrimation against races, religions, sexes.   There have always been areas of immense wealth and areas of the direst poverty, areas where folk are living lives of subsistence, where there have always been folk wondering where their next meal was coming from.

We can gloss over it by sailing into places like Venice, Cannes, Monte Carlo and the like on giant ocean liners where we can eat exotic meals and sleep in palatial cabins with fresh linen sheets every night but let's do it realising that we are never that far from the exact opposite.

Of course we can't go back - only forward.   And our children have by the very nature of their birth (and let' accept that most of our children, grand children and in my case - and some of yours too - great-grandchildren ) have been luckier than many many more in the world.

I have no desire to be any younger or any older than I am.   I shall continue to the end to be as mobile and as cheerful as I can be.   I abolutely refuse to feel sorry for myself - I might be 90 but I shall endeavour to still keep getting pleasure from the simple things in my life - my family, my friends, my carers, my garden, the dogs going past, their chatty owners, callers.   My window cleaner, C, has just been - cleaned my spider-cobweb-ridden garage window inside.   We had a chat while he did it and a laugh.   That's another little perk for today, along with my morning carer, my neighbour popping in for ten minutes, a lady further down the road bringing me half a dozen cherry tomatoes out of their greenhouse and a text from my gardener saying he will re-do my pansy tubs by the front door.   They have been in since March and are 'past their best' - will I trust him to get what he fancies?  (of course I will).

Sufficient unto the day say I.   Must sign off - W my evening carer has just come in the front door. 

See you tomorrow.