Oversight

I woke up on time to post today's Morning Prayer YouTube link to WhatsApp just before 'Thought for the Day'. Overcast again and cooler, just 18C. Masses of cold air from melting sea ice in the Arctic combined with the southward shift of warmer ocean currents that usually give the British Isles good summer weather are now making southern Europe's summers even hotter, prone to drought and wildfires, while ours is cold and damp. 

Just a few days ago northern suburbs of Athens were threatened with wildfires on a 20 km front, requiring emergency fire fighting expert teams from other countries to join Greece's firefighters to bring forest fires under control. After several days of intensive effort they succeeded, high temperatures and random gusts of wind still threaten further outbreaks however. Wild fires on the coast of the island of Evia three years ago killed three people and drove holidaymakers to take refuge in the sea. 

Last year Greece had eighty wildfires, with 28 people killed. Higher than average temperatures of 40C are a consequence of climate change, and similar environmental catastrophes are happening around the world. The deforestation of the terrain makes it more susceptible to flooding and mudslides when torrential rain arrives, and these are now much heavier than before, for the same reason. The world is already at a tipping point that could have been avoided if action on climate change had not increased at a faster rate earlier. More urgent action earlier would of course have had widespread economic consequences, a reduction in standards of living and quality of life maybe. This is likely to happen anyway now as the cost of recovery from each new environmental catastrophe increased. What a mess human greed and over exploitation of nature has caused. 

I went to Thompsons Park to check out the moorhens. The three chicks are out in open water exploring the pond. One of them I caught on camera has lost a patch of its black fluff and feathers growing underneath are just visible. The larger male bird sat on the floating nest for a while, and I've seen chicks climb on and inspect it. It's unlikely there are any eggs to hatch at the moment, but the female bird calls out persistently. At the end of July I photographed the male bird on the nest spreading its tail feathers, characteristic male mating display ritual apparently. Maybe she's ready to lay another clutch of eggs now.

Our car tax renewal form arrived a few days ago. It's only just dawned on me that this means our MOT is due. I rang N G Motors and fortunately the car can be fitted in for a test tomorrow. It's running fine. We do very little mileage these days, so hopefully it will pass. We have a fortnight before the tax bill needs to be paid. Hoepfully if anything does need to be remedied, it won't take that long.

We had a snack lunch so we can eat supper together this evening with Owain. Later in the afternoon I went out for a walk. When I reached the river, it started to drizzle. I didn't check the forecast, so left without a rain coat or brolly. The forecast when I checked said it would rain for over an hour. I walked across Pontcanna Field to the campsite and took refuge with a coffee in the site cafe until it closed at six, stood outdoors under the cafe gazebo until it slowed to a light drizzle then headed for home slightly damp. Owain arrived at half past seven. After eating we spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking Manel's gift of a Swiss Pinot Noir with pleasure.