This year I didn't know if I'd take my walk. I'd already sung in a choir in Whitley Bay and was still getting over an illness. What I really wanted to do after lunch was to go to bed and rest. But the sun was still shining. The wind was still minimal. And walking to the river is a joy. There have been times when I've been physically unable to do it - the flu-like symptoms I had for much of autumn 2018 made walking far impossible. I'd head to the river and then turn round half-way, exhausted and knowing I'd never get back up the hill if I got to the bottom. I have to call them flu-like symptoms. I'd had a flu jab, just as every year. And just as every year, I was ill with persistant flu-like symptoms within five days. In 2019 I didn't have a flu vaccination. And I didn't have an autumn of not-flu. Just this cold at the end of December that was annoying and tiring, as colds are, but didn't prevent getting out and walking places.
So I decided to walk. The same route I took last year, when the sun shone. The same route as two years ago, when the sun shone but when I received some extremely disturbing news about a friend as I sat by the river, news that shook several of the communities which which I've been involved.
Energy held out. I got to the river. I drank tea with friends, which was an unexpected and welcome surprise. And I got home again, via the lowest part of the Ouseburn valley.
Inevitably, I pointed the not excellent camera on my phone at some things as I walked.
A reminder for me on New Year's Day. As far as mental health, physical health, self care, time, and practicality allow I need to continue to engage in some kind of activism this year. There are things I can't do, especially as this term I'm taking three different courses and a year ago fell apart trying to take just one course. And that was a course where there was no real pressure either to attend everything or pass assessments. This year I have eleven exams and a university assessment to pass by the summer. I need to be active for something though. I'll work out what as the year progresses. To be involved with Extinction Rebellion last year came as a total surprise.
As far as the environment goes, humanity has ten years in which to sort things otherwise we have zero chance of keeping global temperature rises below a level that would be apocalyptic. If we have any chance now - the ten years figure is very conservative and the maths that arrived at it ignored factors that will play into the climate emergency. We also need to sort plastic use, other forms of pollution, the widespread ecocide, and everything else that's leading us willingly into a mass extinction event. That's not hippy extremism. That's science that even the mainstream media is waking up to.
I confess: While I have big hopes for my own future and for creating a better life after working so hard to develop at least some mental health stability, I'm scared for the future generally. Worldwide, there is less poverty. Women's rights are greater. Queer rights are greater. By the end of the century women might be paid as much as men and being gay or transgender might be accepted everywhere in the world. That's great. But it's not going to matter one bit if we don't sort out the climate and ecocide, and the international conference at the end of 2019 produced a few good results but mostly from less developed nations who aren't causing most of the problems. Overall, it was pathetic. Australia burns today but even their own government denies that much needs doing. The USA still seems intent on ripping up the Paris Accord which was never a strong enough agreement in the first place.
I look to the Glasgow climate summit at the end of 2020 and can't help thinking that if the nations of the world can't come to drastic and urgent agreements there then we're sunk. Perhaps our civilisation is already over because of the damage already being done and the further damage we'll do this year. Perhaps so. But even if it is, there is still time to work to save the good things we can and to build regenerative communities and create something better. If we don't do the work we have already lost. I don't just mean individually because social issues mean that even the good things we want to do are often impossible. I mean on a widespread scale, as the systems of governments and organisations are changed and focussed on our survival rather than on balancing the books after a year or five years or on an exponential growth in GDP.
Anyway, back to New Year's Day. A day for walking in the Byker area not for saving the planet or building justice and freedom and compassion into lives. Enjoy the photos. If you want to know anything about what they show, just ask. I hope that one day I'll have the time to add text descriptions of all the photos I post. That day isn't today. I'm going out soon to give blood.
One of the old pieces of stone down what was once the railway branch from Byker, round the river to Wallsend. In the background is Tom Collins House, part of the Byker Wall estate.
Does anyone know when this sculpture appeared and if there's a reason for it being there? I think the head has dropped to one side over the last year. I hope it doesn't fall off.
It's a kittiwake tower. Newcastle/Gateshead has the largest inland breeding colony of kittiwakes in the world. Some nest here. Some nest on the ledges of the Baltic art gallery. There's a viewpoint one the outside of the building too and watching the chicks as they grow is one of the pleasures of my year.
Brand new tagging for 2020, on the graffiti wall near the Tyne Bar.
What better way can there be to end a walk than with a sunset like this? If only my phone could show you how excellent it is. Perhaps this year I'll upgrade my phone to one with a good camera. I'd get myself a camera but then I'd have to carry it with me. I'd enjoy using it but I've got used to just pulling out a lightweight phone that I'm carrying anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment