First, a bit of a rant; the world has been gradually been going mad for some time, but in recent years and months, its’ gone to whole new levels of danger and stupidity, as the relative stability in the world that we’ve been lucky to have known (but of course, not everyone has known) has been shaken to its’ core, characterised by despotic leaders of political extremes engaged in firing both missives and actual missiles at each other across widening divides, aided and abetted by their legions of apologists and operatives, amplified to deafening volumes by social media platforms awash with their nonsense and spin.
The best antidote that I can think of to this backdrop is to not forget where we came from, get out into nature and remain “connected” to the fabric of everything that brought us here. We must resist as much as realistically possible the immense gravitational pull of the screens, resist being dehumanised by the “systems” that we have little choice to use but which infuriate us, and resist being perpetrators of further division by peddling drivel devoid of nuance and any understanding, to swirl toxically within the poisonous cauldron the of the mighty digital hellscape. As an antidote, here’s a couple of small wins for the real world from April 2026…
Close to where I live, Greenfinches have returned after a long absence, which is great to see and somewhat unexpected to this observer. As I write this, the resplendent males in their full breeding plumage can be seen calling from prominent perches around the trees and hedgerows of Home Farm on the edge of Warminster.
A twenty-minute walk from Home Farm is Battlebury Hill, an ancient hillfort and chalk downland that is an excellent butterfly site. Here, the Green Hairstreak butterflies are emerging from their pupae for their Springtime flight season that spans late March, April and into May. It’s a pleasure to see them, and shortly, the Duke of Burgundy Fritillaries will do the same, followed by the Marsh Fritillaries…
Someone once said the wise words “There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it”, and without ever having articulated it as well myself, I’ve always concurred with this viewpoint.
There’s plenty of “content” in the real world to be immersed in, so it’s worth connecting to more of that, I think. – JC
PS – Incidentally, Home Farm on the edge of Warminster (mentioned above) is in danger of being developed for housing, which wouldn’t be a good thing were it to happen.
