I've been thinking. Just when I thought life might return to something like normal, boom we have a war. We have a war. But we are not at war, yet. But is it only a matter of time?
For those of us who remember, this feels very much like the Cuban Missile Crisis, though much more dangerous. I just hope that people are not being advised to hide under tables like we were in 1962. It was 1962, wasn't it? Of course then we had John F and Robert Kennedy steering the situation. Would that we had their like today. Well there is of course Vlodomyer Zelensky and his compatriots, showing a lot more leadership than the current incumbent of No 10 Downing Street. Xander "De Piffle" Johnson. And no, that is not a typo, that's what I call him. And it's not a word I made up from his actual name De Peffle, it is an actual word, my Oxford Concise says so. Piffle Noun and Verb. Piffler Noun. Piffling Adjective. Here endeth the lesson. Look it up.
We are now into the 12th day of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, I think, I've lost count. Luckily I was on holiday for most of last week so managed to get away from the wall to wall news reporting. Now at home again, it seems to be all that's on tv. BBC2 is running all day news, then there's Sky, BBC News, CNN, France24, Al Jayzeera. RT the Russian News Channel is notable by it's absence. But I can only say I'm grateful for that absence. What I saw of it at the start of the invasion didn't really resemble a news Channel but rolling propaganda. I feel sorry for the Russian people. After hundreds of years of Czars, some of them crazy, some of them forward thinking, then Communist Dictators, they deserve better.
So what do we have to look forward to..... Skyrocketing energy prices, which will have a knock on effect on EVERYTHING. Will we then find ourselves drawn into war? Only time will tell. That's not much to look forward to, so I shall find something I can do/focus on that will take my mind off the possibility that after years of relative peace in the world, Europe, indeed the entire Planet may yet again descend into war, possibly nuclear. And all we have to hide under are tables?
And the people of the Ukraine, who's lives, homes, hopes and dreams have been shattered in the last week. What of them? Will the yet see their country wrested from the clutches of a tyrant? I do not understand how anyone can think that Ukraine does not have a right to exist and is historically, culturally and geopolitically a part of Russia. Has the Russian leader forgotten the Holodomor? Has he forgotten how his predesscessor Stalin induced an artificial famine in Ukraine that killed millions of Ukrainians? Like my country, Ireland, would ever want to return to British rule. I think not.
When I opened my laptop today, the picture that came up was The Bridge of Mostar in Bosnia Herezogovnia. The image is a current one. The bridge has been rebuilt it was destroyed in the war. Is this a sign of hope? Can we say, and this too will end.
So I'm off to have lunch. Life goes on, I hope. Lets be kind, thoughtful and generous of the abundance we have.
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