Thursday 13 May 2021

Times they have been changing. But I saw th

 'The times they are a-changing'- was it Bob Dylan?   He was my hero but it was all a very long time ago.   But whoever it was - things don't half change fast - far too fast for me to keep up with them.   I suppose if it is an area where your interest lies then that's different.  But I saw on 'Breakfast' this morning that the largest tunnelling instrument in the World has begun going under the Chilterns  - 60+ miles at first I believe - making way for the High Speed Railway.

And I thought back to my parents - Jack and Maude - who both died in 1971 at a good age after a good and happy life with plenty of interests, never just sitting about dozing.   And I smiled to myself - as I often do when I think of instances - about an incident which occurred on 20th July 1969.   Any idea what it was?   We lived in Wolverhampton at the time and were motoring over to Lincoln where they lived, for the day.   My son was desperate to get there (we were pretty desperate) because any minute now Neil Armstrong was  going to land on the Moon in Apollo 11.   We flung open the back door and flew in - my parents were sitting reading the papers and waiting for us to arrive for lunch.  'Have they landed yet?' my son shouted.  'Who?'   'On the moon!'  -  I have never forgotten my father's reply - he was well in his eighties but had held down a responsible job and I had always admired the way he kept up with things.   'Oh - you don't want to believe all that rubbish!'    -

Of course we switched on, caught the landing, marvelled at it and -dare I say- it's all been downhill since then.   If they can do that they can do any kind of thing.   What my parents would think to a giant machine tunnelling under the channel with Eurostar and now under the Chilterns - and the speed the trains were going to go when it was all finished.   I can hear my father saying 'what do they want to do that for?'  Whereas we just take it all in our stride.

But it does make better news than the dreadful fighting that has broken out again in the Gaza strip.  These flash points in the World go out of the News and appear to die down but are simmering just below the surface and I am sure that if they affect you, whichever side you are on, the bitterness does not go away and does ruin your life.  But the bitterness boils over and sadly it is often the innocent - even children - who are killed.   Please let's all hope  a solution is found.  No land really belongs to anyone - while we are here we rest on it and grow to love it, but after we are gone that is the job of others.

Oh for a perfect world where  we can all live in  harmony.   Some hopes.


32 comments:

Debby said...

I must be about the same age as your son. I remember that day so vividly and how we sat transfixed by what was happening ON THE MOON!!! We could hardly believe it. We were so optimistic about our world's future.

Derek Faulkner said...

Can't say as all that bother between Israel and Palestine bothers me, they've been chucking things at each other for donkeys years and probably still will be in donkeys years - it's one of the annual things that happens in the world. Northern Ireland will soon be next, it's simmering.
After several warm and sunny days here, it's been raining all day and it's chilly.
As for HS2, what a waste of money that is, simply a charter for all manner of contractors to make themselves fortunes by upping the costs at regular intervals.

Beacee said...

Back in my childhood there was a comic story that included a high speed boring machine. The problem is I can't remember whether it belonged to the goodies or the baddies. So not much has changed.

Ellen D. said...

I went on the high speed train in China and it was amazing how quickly we arrived at our distant destination. It was an easy way to travel.

Mary said...

Such an interesting and well written post dear Pat - I love hearing about your parents. Guess all of us from that era now realize that we lived in the best of times for sure!
Take care - have a great week.

Jennyff said...

I had much the same thoughts watching the news last night. Men can travel to the moon, invent a pandemic virus quickly, tunnel under the sea but live together in peace, no chance.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Yes, my father assured me that people would never land on the moon - also that we'd never have any motorways in Cambridgeshire and that "Mick Jagger won't be jigging about like that when he's forty!". Now Bob Dylan's nearly 80 and the times are still changing just like he said; he was all of twenty-three at the time.

Derek Faulkner said...

And he also sang that "Tomorrow is a long time"

Susan said...

Harmony would be very nice. Unfortunately, time has shown, perfect harmony is not in our DNA. I agree that the saddest part of it all is innocent people get caught in the crossfire.

Barbara Anne said...

Hi Pat,
Yes, it was Bob Dylan who wrote "The times they are a'changin'. So they are still.
I was 18, in the car with my parents en route from suburban Chicago to see family in Virginia on that date in July, '69. We did the unheard of thing of getting a motel room so we could watch the moon landing. Dad usually drove straight through and then slept for a day. Not that time! It was thrilling.
6 weeks later I left home to go to nursing school, married 3 weeks after I graduated, and never lived with my parents again.
May peace prevail on earth.

Hugs!

thelma said...

How many times have we looked at out televisions and seen another country's agony, with wounded people and shattered buildings. Who invented these toys that kill, who made them and who is selling them? It is like a game and the innocent suffer.

Rachel Phillips said...

Try telling those who believe in the Bible that no land belongs to anyone; try telling the Arabs that their homes are not their homes. Try telling Iran to keep out. I could go on.

The Feminine Energy said...

Yes, the wisdom of the elders is wisdom indeed! Why do we want to go to the moon when people are starving here on earth? Couldn't that money be used more wisely?

And that whole problem between Israel and Palestine has been going on since biblical times. I think that area is destined for turmoil until the earth exists no more.

I find that all I do is concentrate on my own little couple acres of land and let the rest of the world go by.

~Andrea xoxo

CharlotteP said...

Oh, just to do our best to leave our corner of the world in a better state than we found it...

Librarian said...

I love what you say about the land not really belonging to anyone, even though I am very glad to ‘own’ a tiny piece of my hometown - the flat I live in is one of three in the house. and one third of the plot of land around the house is mine, so to speak. I would not want anyone to question my right to live there.
That story about your parents and the moon landing made me smile, too!

Yael said...

I really like you Pat and have been reading your blog for years, but I am very sorry to see and not for the first time that you are referring to what is happening here as if it is only happening in Gaza. You are doing injustice to the other side by ignoring it.It is always worthwhile to study the details in depth before expressing a position on a topic that for you is just a few lines on the blog but for us here it is life.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed watching the space crew return from the International Space Station last week in under 7 hours. It took me right back to that time in 1969 also. I find it amazing that they can bring a crew back from space faster than me travelling to see my family here on Earth.

Brenda said...

People can’t even agree to wear a mask or to get a vaccination...peace is something we pray for.

The bike shed said...

Oh for a perfect world - it will never come, but we should always strive...

Heather said...

I remember the moon landing and thinking at the time of how much money it must have cost and for what real purpose. Much like the landing on Mars recently. Don't we need all that cash to make up for the damage we are doing to planet Earth.
I grew up in the Chilterns, such a beautiful area, and the thought of that monstrous machine carving out great chunks of it, not to mention the destruction of ancient woodlands, etc., really hurts. Again, we are ruining our little bit of our planet.
I despair of the hatred between Israel and Palestine. It has been going on for so many years, each blaming the other for the latest atrocities.

Tom Stephenson said...

There were two giant machines which tunnelled under the Channel to meet in the middle. Rather than go to the trouble of reversing ours back out again to be used again, they took a spur off to one side and got it to dig its own grave. It is down there still.

Bonnie said...

I remember watching the moon landing with my Mother when I was 17. It seemed amazing to me then and in a way it still does now. Yes, times are changing. I love hearing about your past and your parents.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Oh what fascinating replies there are here and how I appreciate your points of view and - by no means for the first time - wish we could all sit round together and discuss it all. Yael you make a good point - I would so love to hear your point of view in detail.Tom, thank you for that info about the Channel Tunnel, Derek, it bothers me - as do all conflicts - because it is always the innocent who suffer the most.These days we can sit by the fire eating our cream tea and watch the suffering in places like Yemen, Syria and Iraq and nobody seems to care. And if we do there is little we can do about it.

wherethejourneytakesme2 said...

Mahatma Gandhi famously said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." sadly there are a lot of bitter and narrowminded people in the world who only believe their view is the right one. But we live in hope. Love Bob Dylan and all those who wrote songs during that period. Not sure why the 'Love and Peace' message fizzled out - I think it was during the Thatcher years when greed and selfishness became more prevalent.
As with the tunnel, change has to happen - whether or not it is change for good is another matter!

Anonymous said...

I 'm in my late 60's now. I was in my first paid employment (office junior) in a solicitors office here in South Australia, when the moon landing took place. The legal partners hired a television for the day and staff could pop in to the senior partner's office at any stage to see what was happening. Very exciting. Around this time, I think I was 16 or seventeen, I remember rushing out to the kitchen at home , horrified to hear on my radio that war had been declared between Israel and Palestine and to inform my parents, who just shrugged and said 'that war has been going on forever.' I certainly acknowledge that Yael makes a good point here...from Pam, Adelaide.

Joanne Noragon said...

For years I saved a little "filler" clip from our newspaper. A school girl was watching the moon landing. Her grandmother demanded to be taken outside to see, and could not be dissuaded.
When out, looking at the moon, she announced "Hmpf, I can't see them."

Cro Magnon said...

I read yesterday that Hamas were desperate for a cease-fire, but continued to fire thousands of rockets. I do wish that Gaza could be run by 'normal politicians', rather than a bunch of terrorists. The poor Palestinians deserve better.

Rachel Phillips said...

Actually Weave many people care. The media is no measure.

Derek Faulkner said...

And like Pat said, even if people do care there's little that they can do about it. Best to worry about what's going on in our own little world, rather than somebody else's.

Yael said...

The least you can do is not post cynical comments on blogs while people are suffering here in real time, a little compassion and kind words can greatly help. And to my delight there are a lot of good people in Blogland, there are people who have chosen to respond so humanely and differently from what you chose Derek.

Derek Faulkner said...

I appreciate what you are currently suffering but I was only expressing what myself and many other people think, even if they don't say it.

thelma said...

Well first may I say I feel for Yael as media interpretations take to the air and we give foolish opinions. The problem is that we all have opinions but history doesn't always work out the way we want. Territorial obsessions are what they are in the Middle East.
Hasn't a lot happened in the way of space flight in our lifetimes, now in a few years we will be booking up for a holiday in space, which doesn't amount too much really. But that first shock of men bouncing about on the moon was definitely a first;)