Changing Time Zones

I am reading Yuval Noah Harari’s book ‘Sapiens’ on the beach and his observations on time struck a chord. After 40 years of work with life dominated by the routine of the working day and week and even the week-end is subject to time constraints once Monday comes around again. We wear watches and have time devices all around us so that we can get to work and school on time, know when to eat and go to bed on time for the start of the next day. Harari observes that in medieval agricultural societies the routines were driven by the rhythms of nature. Sunrise and sunset dictated the working day, the arrival of spring and summer changes the tasks to sowing and harvesting while autumn saw the preparations for winter. Towns usually had only one inaccurate clock. People did not need to know the time, the position of the sun informed them what needed to be done next.

The onset of the industrial revolution with factory working saw the introduction of routines and the need for time keeping. Even then individual towns kept their own time, London could be half an hour ahead of Birmingham. It was the introduction of the railways with rigid timetables that standardised time.

For the next 4 weeks our home with all the essentials for life is Betsy, our metal tent on wheels. Somewhere in the chaos of Betsy there are some non-essentials my watch being one of them. I have not seen it for several days and I’m not in the least bit worried. The sun has become our rhythm, I wake when the first light creeps into Betsy through a gap in the blinds. There is a call of nature and a stroll to the beach. Carol and I snorkel watching beautiful iridescent coloured fish dart around the rocks. As we finish the bright orange sun is rising above the cliffs. Hunger dictates the timing of breakfast and as I write this I have no idea what is the time of day. The midday heat keeps us off of the beach in the shade. Later on we mosey down to the beach staying until the sun goes down or we get hungry.

We only bump into time when journeying between places and need those pesky timetables.  On the journey from Dover our timing got us onto an earlier ferry and a precious extra hour for the road journey to the first campsite.  The timing of the road journey was all about making it to Ancona in Italy to catch the ferry to Greece. Dodging the rush hour frenzy of traffic around Bologna we fret about covering the 240km to Ancona in time.  We need not have worried the ferry departure from Ancona was in true Greek fashion reliably late in leaving by 1hr 20 min. To be fair the ferry arrives in Igoumenitsa only 10 mins behind schedule.Tomorrow we depart this timeless zone to travel across to Aegina by ferry so back to those timetables.  For now I know it is time to leave the beach, the sun has sliding behind the hills casting a cooling shadow, my stomach is telling it is time for some food and my mood indicates time for a glass of wine. The natural rhythms of life are dictating our schedule.

The ferry in Ancona

Sunrise over Corfu seen from the ferry

The beach bar in Lichnos Bay, Greece which opened in time for breakfast and closed when the last diner had finished

Running Away

As I have taken in the news on proroguing of Parliament, listened to the pronouncements of the Home Secretary on freedom of movement and the bully boy tactics of the unelected Dominic Cummings a feeling of dread has crept over me.  These are the actions of powerful people who don’t care about the rules and norms. The feeling of dread was enhanced when listening to the constitutional expert Peter Hennessy talking about the reliance for upholding of the constitution on the “the good chap” concept.  You will not come across a more unlikely bunch of ‘good chaps’ than the current prime minister, his cabinet and advisor.  

All this was going on as we prepared for our latest road trip in Betsy.  While the signing the local petition against proroguing of Parliament in Devizes Market Square I felt a sense of comradeship and joining of battle with the folks who had organised the demonstration.  Yet 2 days later we were on the ferry to France dashing towards Ancona, Italy for another ferry to Igoumenitsa, Greece. The gloom of the UK receding behind us as we charge through France, Switzerland and Italy.  Reality came home when I read the email from our MP Claire Perry in reply to receiving the petition which was just pure propaganda. I was so incensed that against a beautiful Italian sunset composed an angry reply.  

I’m writing this in a Greek taverna overlooking a bay amongst a group of holiday-makers from all over Europe where English is the lingua franca.  The atmosphere happy and carefree yet we are still locked into our mobile phones looking over our shoulders at the twists are turns of politics back home.  I feel that we have abandoned the Devizes folks who have bothered to stand up and be counted against what is a regime that is determined to subvert democracy in pursuit of a propaganda goal.  

I am not a believer in a second referendum as it will not resolve the split in the country and will almost certainly deliver an inconclusive result.  The referendum result is a given but it should never have been held on the basis of solving the intercine war within the Tory party on such a simplistic basis as IN/OUT with no proper public consultation and debate.  IDIOT BOY DAVID (Cameron) should hang his head in shame. The issue is not even about if not the Tories then the fear of CORBYN as both Labour and Conservatives are the corrupt (Ancient Greek meaning decay, rotten) corpses of the 2 party system.  This is a threat and opportunity: the threat are the extremes are allowed to subvert our democracy through populism and the opportunity is to improve our democracy with better representation and consultation that can tackle the almost cataclysmic challenges facing us.  

These issues are:  CLIMATE CHANGE which threatens the existence for our grandchildren, WEALTH DISPARITY which within UK will fuel massive discontent that will lead to violence eventually and is fuelling global migration and SOCIAL CARE which is not tackled will bring down the NHS.  These issues can be masked by populists whose self interest will generate fake news to divert attention from them or to solve them will need stable government that has widespread support and can broker solutions to the difficult problems.