Rasome.
Heavy raindrops hit the ground and I could almost hear the gasping. I sat and watched the rain. This is the first rain in Cyprus for a while. I hope it continues.
It’s been a week since I returned from hiking in the Briançon region of France, where it had barely rained for three weeks. During those three weeks, I watched greens turn to browns, mountain solids turn to dust, rivers turn to trickles, glaciers recede, sunflowers wither and the remaining birds gasp. The temperatures were above thirty degrees every day, and by taking the ferry and driving, I knew I was making it worse.
I lived with guilt, but not enough to stop me from doing things. I’m not going to talk about my lifestyle or what I do as an individual to try to push back on what’s going on with the climate and the planet and life on it, I don’t think that’s helpful and it makes me shout out to people Calling, virtue signaling, or being a hypocrite, or whatever seems like the most common attack these days opens myself up to a lot more, but I’ve always tried to defend myself against the more destructive aspects of my life (I probably took two long-haul flights a year) for about 15 years. ) reduce the impact through other means.
No matter what we do, there are consequences, I guess that’s part of life, it’s part of surviving on this planet, and, I guess, there’s a hierarchy of the value you place on your personal needs and selfish desires. Prioritize other, more pressing issues that affect every person and every living thing?
This is a difficult situation we all face, but we can’t stop doing things that give meaning, inspiration or bring joy to ourselves and others, otherwise what’s the point? But surely there comes a time when we all have to make a change and work for the greater good? Will we one day return to a time when we all lived more locally and with fewer needs?
I haven’t written in a while for various reasons, one of which is that when I’m not hiking I spend my time building small, low impact shacks to drink, procrastinate, complain, complain, rant, write, read and spend the rest of your life. But the biggest reason not to write is because of everything that has happened, and everything that is still happening; pandemics, wars, Brexit, displacement crises, poverty, cost-of-living crises, rivers polluted by companies we pay huge sums of money to look after, Energy companies ripping us off, the blatantly corrupt and dishonest Johnson and Conservative government (or current non-PM and non-Government), etc., and of course, the climate crisis with all its implications…well, frankly, sit back It seems a bit cliche to come down and write and brag about how great my life is and brag about the climbs I’ve climbed recently. Don’t get me wrong, climbing is still very important and something I get a lot of joy from, but as things get worse in the world and things, including climbing, become more consumeristic, I just find that a lot It’s hard to write optimistically about something that is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
As I said above, I know we need a perspective, we need inspiration and stories and meaning, of course we do, but some of it, to me anyway, right now seems a far cry from what most people would even dream of Far. , let alone affordable, is vulgar. I have to admit, I feel a little sick when I read about another millionaire or millionaire’s kid “conquering” mountains and causing destruction on so many levels. It might just be me and my cynicism, but when will climbers start asking other climbers about the impact of their lifestyle? I can hear you now saying, “well it doesn’t matter to you, you’ve done it” and you’re right, I did it, but I can’t change what I was born into and I can’t change what I didn’t do I didn’t know about it at the time, nor did I appreciate it. Yes, I may be ignorant, and yes, I believe some of the lies in the media about climate change are wrong, but make no mistake, we all know what is happening now?
You could also ask, why is this relevant to me, which is a good question since I’ll be dead in twenty years, but it feels crazy, almost psychotic, to carry on when nothing has happened. I really don’t want all the animals on earth to die, nor do I want people to have a terrible time before they perish. If you’re young and continue to ignore it, well, that’s beyond me because sooner or later all this shit is going to slap you in the face unless people change their attitude.
Anyway, it still takes me a month or two to get used to my well-insulated, low-emission shed, so luckily for you, there probably won’t be any more writing for a while, but don’t worry, I “There’s no doubt that at some point I’ll take it again, well, unless the planet burns down or some madman pushes a button or I just can’t be bothered because I feel like a large part of us should Get what we get, (sorry to those of you who don’t deserve it, or those of us “developed countries” who get a kick out of it!)
