Well, it’s nearly time to honour our fallen soldiers again as another Anzac Day rolls around, the 109th anniversary of the landing in Turkey of the Australian and New Zealand army corps and their allies which began the ill-feted Dardanelles campaign of 1915. It does seem that the more things change the more things stay the same with war festering today in the middle east and Europe and an intimidating behemoth rising in Asia, seeking to impose its will on all who dare to stand in its path. Worrying times.
Pax Americana seems to be crumbling before our eyes. An ex-president is ordering his party to block aid to America’s democratic allies, threatening future European security, emboldening despots and dictators around the world and threatening the alliances which have underpinned western prosperity since the end of the Second World War.
It’s a strange time when people are demonising democratic nations and cheering the cut-throat, terrorism supporting governments of the world. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but one can only wonder if a Moscow/Tehran/Beijing axis exists, hoping to sow enough discontent in the US and elsewhere in order to further their nefarious activities without hinderance from powerful foes. But hey, I could be wrong.
Our country has changed a lot over the decades and things which were once important seem to be marginalised and our institutions and traditions are being undermined. A nation which degrades its history and hates itself is barely a nation at all. That being said I feel Anzac Day will be well supported again, revisionist thought still seems unable to storm the ramparts of our greatest national day. It has its detractors but freedom of thought is what men and women have supposedly died for so we must put up with them. I hope you all enjoy your public holiday.
As for Linda and I, life goes on as usual. It’s two years since Linda started to feel the pain in her ribs and back that eventually lead to her diagnosis of secondary, stage 4 breast cancer. She was given two years to live but has ridden the odds well since then. The chemotherapy cycles she keeps every three weeks has kept the insidious disease at bay and it has hardly advanced in all that time. In fact, her eyesight, which is deteriorating due to macular degeneration is more of an immediate problem. A fall could literally kill her, bones being horribly brittle due to the cancer eating away at her skeletal form. Her recent scans have shown the disease to be stable and we can’t hope for any better news than that.
In some ways we are living our best life. Not too many cares, living each day as it comes, no bosses lingering over our shoulders, pushing our heads towards the grindstones. The looming storm lies ahead, and it will reach us soon enough. Until then, we go on.
Have a great weekend.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 