Day 303

The day when the clocks go back is always a sucker punch. At least we tried a new psychological ploy last night, which was not to put the clocks back before we went to bed, to avoid the false sense of having an additional hour. As a result, I think M, A, and I actually got some high quality and long sleep. But the gloaming comes early now, and will keep coming earlier and earlier for the next seven weeks, and will then start to creep away in tiny increments for the remainder of winter until the end of March. Even more important for me to walk mid-day to absorb as much day light (though not Vitamin D, because England gives you no Vitamin D) as possible. And I will have to try to find again what I found in the old village – lots of weekend day light activities.

It is frustrating that we’re not on the same time as Europe (and even a lot of Europe is getting frustrated by this meaningless habit of putting the clocks back come mid-autumn). Thise in the north of the UK saying it’s important to be on a different time AND to put back the clocks are seriously not very educated – most of Norway is north of any part of mainland Britain, and it’s aligned to European time, and there are no issues there. For me, it’s just yet another expression of British exceptionalism, rooted in the corrupt and destructive imperialism of old. No more, no more. Junk this along with the monarchy, the forced deference of the masses to that tripartite power of royalty, class, and wealth. Ridiculous. We’re in the 21st century, folks.

Talking of such things, the can of worms in politics has now been well and truly opened. More allegations emerge about Suella Braverman, the racist Home Secretary (including that she shared extremely sensitive information with a hard-right MP who didn’t have the appropriate security clearance, and who has extremely close links with even harder right private individuals seeking to steer the course of UK politics from the dark recesses of new money); there’s news of the hacking of Liz Truss’s phone when she was Foreign Secretary (which Johnson was allegedly aware of and did nothing about); news of more Tory MPs misleading standards watchdogs; Maria Caulfield, the Tory MP who backed cutting abortion time limits and agitated against having buffer zones outside abortion clinics, being appointed Minister for Women. To say Sunak was lying when he said he was all about governing with integrity, professionalism, and accountability, is not being inaccurate.

And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. The world is a space we’re having to watch. Terrible things are afoot.

AGGIE’S ART OF HAPPINESS – CHAPTER 236