Being out and about. Hostilities resumed. Turning war into a computer game.

 I seem to have been out and about for most of the day. Having reluctantly got myself out of bed first thing, I ran round the village. My normal route was surprisingly not slippy. There’s still snow compacted on most pavements but it’s not melted enough to give a glassy surface to refreeze.

I did stop being out and about long enough to shower and change and organise breakfast. Then the plan was to go to Uppermill, collect some things from the chemist’s shop there and walk on to Tesco, about 15 minutes walk away in Greenfield. As I was contemplating timing my daughter contacted us to ask if we fancied a walk together, as it was such a nice crisp day. So we organised that she would meet me at Tesco, drive me home, collect Phil and go for our walk.

All good except that I missed the bus I intended to catch to Uppermill. So I walked, arriving at Uppermill just in time to catch the next bus to Greenfield. My visit to the chemist’s shop was postponed but at least the bus would deposit me outside Tesco, where I put into the Salvation Army collecting bin some old trainers and hiking boots which I had failed to leave in the shoe collection in Delph village … because it had mysteriously disappeared! I also left some books which we’ll never read again on the second-hand-books-on-sale-for-charity shelf in the supermarket. Maybe I’ll slowly manage to de-clutter!

My daughter picked me up as arranged, we did a stop-off at the chemist’s on the way home, drove home and collected Phil and set off for a walk. The small boy needed some encouragement to keep on walking. When he was a tiny boy in a buggy he always wanted to get out and walk. Now he’s going through that 4-year-old phase of thinking he should be carried or given a piggy-back on longish walks. We were firm but also persuasive - it’s amazing what the chance to make footprints in the remaining snow will do! 

So here I am, late afternoon, finally writing this. 

Despite the best efforts to make it otherwise, it seems that Israel is bombing Gaza again. One wonders what was the point of releasing prisoners if you then bomb them or re-arrest them. Reading this article, I found myself reflecting on the nature of war and how it has become more and more impersonal as technology has increased. On e upon a time it was two armies lined up ready to beat each other up with sticks and cudgel and to stick sharp objects into each other. They might even have agreed where and when to meet and fight. Okay, there were raids during which prisoners were captured, usually into slavery, but the actual fighting was up close and personal. Then long bows got into the mix, and guns, killing people at a distance. Along came the possibility to drop bombs on your enemy from the sky, but still someone had to fly the planes and risked being killed themselves in the process. And now we have drones that can do the bombing for us, and artificial intelligence selecting the targets. Killing people begins to resemble a computer game!  

It’s a crazy world we live in! But …

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!