Yesterday Granddaughter Number Two sent us a photo of a hot air balloon she spotted flying over York. This led to a number of family jokes about spy balloons keeping track of what is she is doing in her politics course.
I have just heard someone on the Radio 4 news speculating about the possible origin of the various unidentified flying objects spotted over the USA at the moment. Have the US military been neglectful in their observation of their skies in recent years? Might that explain why they are suddenly seeing more? What are the chances of these being alien spaceships from outer space? Are we shooting down emissaries who want to help us sort out our ailing planet?
Oddly enough I had joked about that last possibility when the second unidentified flying object was spotted. Someone else obviously thinks the same way as can be seen in this link to a Last Dog on the Moon cartoon.
The American government, by the way, assures us there is no evidence of alien activity!
At the stage in lockdown when everyone who could do so was working from home, my son took to getting up in the morning and walking to his local railway station and home again, not just for the exercise, but as a way of differentiating between home life and working day life. Sometimes her repeated the operation at the end of the day, again to symbolise that that part of his day was finished with and he could relax into the evening.
And now, here is an article arguing that in fact commuting is good for you, for that very reason - establishing a demarcation line between the two bits of your life and also giving you thinking time, time to gather your ideas and review your plans or just time to stare aimlessly into space. It’s good for your mental health!
Incidentally, since he has been doing a mix of working from home and going into the office, my son no longer walks down to the station every day. He finds the combination of home-working and office-working pretty satisfactory. He is, however, fortunate enough to have the kind of work where a regular meeting with colleagues is actually quite stimulating.
And finally, here’s something which has been annoying me, just a little. With increasing regularity short feel-good stories keep popping up on social media. Small boy is told he can buy whatever he wants in a supermarket and surprises his parents by buying a load of stuff to give to a homeless man begging in he supermarket doorway. Or a teenager notices someone counting out loose change to pay for coffee and a snack and pays the bill for them. Random acts of kindness are great, don’t get me wrong. It’s just astounding how there’s always someone with a camera to record the event and post it on social media.
I keep cancelling the posts but it’s turning me into a grumpy old grouch! Which is really not me!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment