Into the Death Zone

or 70 Times Around the Sun or 25,568 Sunrises

21st September 2024 is my 70th birthday and I will be leaving social media on that day or the following day. I may, occasionally, post stuff on Substack but if you do subscribe you certainly won’t receive many posts.

I have made it thus far but now I must turn my head to face the final part of my journey. I’ve been on a long trip and it’s been one hell of a ride so far.

One day perhaps I’ll tell the story of how this farm lad from Shropshire, left the family farm and became a safari park game warden, Liverpool City Dog Warden. Environmental Health Officer, tour guide, book publisher, photographer and who formed a band and made a CD (despite being crap at music) before buying a small farm in Wales.

During that journey I have lived for over 50 years with (and been madly in love with) my wonderful wife who I met when we were at school.

Above: I worked ay the Safari Park in the 1970’s I wasn’t meant to give lions bottles of milk!

It was my father, who said that ‘two score years and ten’ was your allotted span. I suspect that average life spans in the UK have grown a tad since then. Although I would also suspect that they are now in retreat again as failed generations of medics bow at the feet of Big Pharma and follow their algorithms rather than the tenets of ‘do no harm’ and be ‘compassionate’.

I’ve always tried to do a lot and have never viewed anything as being impossible, but as I reflect today I know that my remaining existence is limited before I return to stardust from whence I came.

For that reason I have always travelled as widely as I could. In those years after leaving the family farm life was a massive financial struggle, but at least then I could work two mundane jobs and go to ‘night school’ twice a week to get some qualifications. At least then, two young working people in their early 20’s could scrabble the money to get a mortgage and buy a home, even if we couldn’t afford a bed and slept on bare floorboards. At least we could live in our own house.

I never saw the point of being granted a flash of existence on earth and not wanting to see as much of it as reasonably possible in that time. I have had some great times travelling, meeting wonderful people in every corner of the globe. The one thing that always strikes me is how the ‘ordinary person’, even living in the humblest shack just wants a happy healthy life, an education for their children with enough resources for themselves and their family.

Above: 2024 Two Old Men in Vietnam. He was fighting the Americans whilst I was listening to the Rolling Stones in the 1970s

In fact the poorer people are financially the more generous and richer they often are. There is a big lesson there for humanity but the psychopaths won’t like me saying it. But at present the world is dominated by a group of billionaires (and others) who just want more.

If anyone can explain to this simple farm boy how the fact that the richest 1% own almost half of the world’s wealth, while the poorest half of the world own just 0.75% is equitable, I would love to know. Do billionaires work a billion times harder?

So, in my remaining years. I wish to maximise every opportunity left to me and as a consequence I will be leaving all social media (Facebook principally) because it is such a waste of my remaining time. I have always understood it is a large data collection machine but it just sucks up too much time for no purpose and feeds a ‘red dopamine surge’ icon in the corner as a reward. Let's be honest, my inane dribbling’s on Facebook (and occasionally on Twitter) are viewed by very few and are at best a few words about how I see the world and are at worst irrelevant digital noise in a pointless digital soup. So that’s it, social media now goes the way of the Smart Phone (I don’t have one) in my life.

Life is just too short to be wasting it jousting with idiots who believe that being tethered to digital devices is liberating. It isn’t liberating it is controlling, destructive and sucks the life out of you and I will have no further part in it.

What will I do instead? I’ll try and use those precious grains of sand that are left in the timer in a positive way. Mostly, reading, travelling and completing some photo projects I expect. Our beautiful natural 50 acre haven here in Wales keeps me busy. Being in touch with nature and not being wired to the digital world is how we are meant to be and the ability to look across fields and trees towards the hills and river every day is all that I need.

Above: An old fool with a chainsaw is always a risky combination

I know that this is a massive privilege that is offered to few, but my wife and I are just temporary custodians. We hope to pass it on to the future in better condition than when we came here.

Above: The River Cothi - Part of our little bit of Heaven

I was lucky enough to grow up in what I would call the ‘golden years’. In much of the west, those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s certainly had it good. I know that it wasn’t perfect and evil still went on; but personally I grew up, with a full belly, in a time of comparatively little conflict. I received an education that allowed me (albeit belatedly) to think for myself and witnessed some fabulous music exploding in the 60s and 70s.

I think that we are at a more dangerous point now and the last few years make me fearful for the future of my grandchildren. The world has never been fair but it is now becoming more ‘dog eat dog’ as the rich get richer whilst the ‘old order’, of imperialistic powers, do everything they can to stop their power being eroded by those developing countries who say that their days in charge are over.

Facebook messenger will remain live for anyone who might want to contact me and I am always happy for anyone to visit our little bit of heaven down a remote Welsh valley.

I will occasionally post articles on Substack to show that I’m still alive. Subscribe if you wish but don’t expect anything regular or any blinding insights.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish