HERE IS THE NEWS!
Recently, my wife and I prepared breakfast in our kitchen. Our daughter
and son-in-law like to tease us about our routines, particularly the regular
breakfast bowls of fruit, cereals and yoghurt. As usual, Ruby was close by,
knowing that ‘good things come to those who wait!’
A news bulletin on the radio reported that five Brits, who had been
captured by Russian forces while fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers, had
been released as part of a wider prisoner exchange. After his release, one of
the five, when interviewed, complained that he had been treated like a dog during
his captivity. As we heard this statement, my wife and I looked at each other
before glancing down at Ruby. She sat with an empty yoghurt pot to either side.
We give her those that have been emptied into our bowls; she loves chasing them
around the floor and then licking them clean. Occasionally, if she is still
curled up on a sofa in the lounge, we take the pots to her and hold them while
she performs the cleaning ritual without having to be too disturbed! When the
newsreader finished reporting the ex-prisoner’s remarks, I think we both
thought something like, ‘Wow, the Russians have definitely upped their game
regarding prison reform and improving conditions!’
Soon after, on our latest road trip to the North-East, we listened to
the Jeremy Vine programme. In one topic, he highlighted the negative effect on
people of the unremittingly bad sequence of news that we’ve all been exposed to
in recent years; Brexit, Covid and lockdown, Boris Johnson’s antics, Ukraine,
the cost of living crisis, energy prices, losing the Queen and gaining Liz
Truss. (I added that last one, although I genuinely believe it qualifies as bad
news!) Jeremy explained how many people had now decided to stop watching or
listening to bulletins and turned off their smartphone notifications because
they could no longer face the awful, unending torrent. I get the point
because, at times, it does seem a little like we’ve been transported back to
Ancient Egypt, and if my list is comprehensive, we’ve still got at least two
plagues to go!
Yet when we got to our destination and began experiencing our early morning beach walks, a sense of perspective returned. The beautiful autumn sunrises were free for all to enjoy; the tide still flowed in and out twice a day, leaving a completely different landscape in its wake each time. In Whitburn park, the trees’ leaves had begun transforming to red and gold. And, of course, every single one of the many dogs running up and down the sand communicated a sense of infectious fun, of living in and enjoying the moment. Embracing the natural world doesn’t wipe out the bad news, but it does help restore some essential balance.
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