Rain. Re-wilding. Banning bikes.

We’ve had rain. Quite a lot of it. The pessimists in the media are now saying that the ground is too dry and hard to absorb the rain quickly and consequently we could have floods and a drought at the same time in some parts of the country. That doesn’t seem to be a problem where we live. The footpaths have absorbed quite a lot of rain without becoming waterlogged. Some of the muddy puddles have re-established themselves but not all. Much of our rain has fallen overnight, which suits me fine. Yesterday, however, I listened to the rain falling heavily on the roof, decided running was not an option, turned off my alarm and went back to sleep.

Advocates of re-wilding are boasting that areas where they have allowed streams to follow their normal meandering path, re-establishing wetlands, has helped those places survive the heatwaves which have dried up surrounding areas. Creating, or recreating, wetlands keeps plants irrigated in times pf drought, while the meandering river slows down the rush of water when there is a prolonged downpour. It’s what the National Trust has done on its Holnicote estate in Somerset.

It’s the sort of thing the National Trust can do. Persuading landowners that maybe that is a better option than building lots of houses and concreting over what should be floodplains is a different matter. Once again, it might be all about money! 

Here’s a link to an article about Mexicans who have lived in the USA for decades and are suddenly being arrested by ICE agents and sent back to the country they probably left when they were small children. That’s about 145,000 Mexicans. Some of them suffered quite badly on returning to Mexico. If you have not lived in a place since you were a small child it must be hard to avoid problems. Some of them have gravitated to a barrio of Mexico City which is now referred to as Little Los Angeles where their English language skills make them very employable. There is even an organisation called New Comienzos [a nice mix of languages) which helps deportees integrate into the country of their birth - ah, the irony! 

I have gone on a bit on more than one occasion about bikes (electric and traditional) and electric scooters on pavements. Now I hear that the mayor of Como in Italy is banning bikes in Como city centre. Some people accuse him of sour grapes, maybe a personal vendetta against cyclists after he was hit by someone on an electric bike.

Small businesses and restaurants who rely on cycle-powered delivery are protesting. Activists have started a petition calling for him to overturn the rule and cyclists are planning to ride their bikes through the specified streets in mid-September in protest. Oh boy!

Life goes on, stay safe and well, everyone!