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Slow Moments

Longing for the blue water of the Caribbean or the or the rocky beaches of the Côte d'Azur.
Instead we get this! Super Bowl Sunday in Virginia

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It has been snowing here in Lincolnshire too, although maybe not as much as Colo.
The one thing about living in Virginia - If you do not like the weather just wait a day.
The snow was gone the next day.

Here we go again. 55 yesterday... Up to 6 inches of snow in the next day or two.

A walk in the snow is always soooooooooooooo peaceful.
 
Here Spring is dehydrating fast, and we are getting our first continuous days of above 35 C.
Went out for a short hike this morning, along the way we encountered an old leopard trap. There are quite a few in the area, I posted a pic of another one in an older thread.

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From today's short outing.
First day of the year just above 40° C., but probably many more on the way. This is 11 degrees above the average for this day, when compared to the years 1980-2000, and a bit higher than the averages of the past five-ten years.
I'm lucky to have a relatively large expanse here to escape to, but at these temps any outing longer than a few hours early in the morning is much less enjoyable, for about 5 months a year.

And while the urge to travel abroad is always present, I can't help but thinking if, and how, in this era of global warming, more sacrifices should be made in order to reduce the impact of travel abroad - the simplest being just to reduce the amount drastically, by everyone. Not a popular attitude - especially on a travel forum - but it seems that there is no other way, unfortunately. This and many other steps that have to be taken in additional aspects of the Western routine as well. We're on the way to being cooked....

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more sacrifices should be made in order to reduce the impact of travel abroad - the simplest being just to reduce the amount drastically, by everyone. Not a popular attitude - especially on a travel forum - but it seems that there is no other way, unfortunately.
Of course I disagree. I think you have to look at your whole lifestyle and see the environmental impact. A person who wants to reduce their environmental impact may drive less, eat local organic foods, be a vegetarian, not spray their gardenand house with chemicals, not have children, live in a smaller house. But then travel in a somewhat environmentally friendly way.

What part of travel is environmentally bad? The getting to the location. Then do longer trips and travel less often. Stay in vacation rentals where sheets and towels are not replaced every day. Use local businesses, not chains.

Are we who love to travel, who perhaps made decisions throughout their lives in order to be able to travel frequently, supposed to give it up, the thing that gives meaning to our lives, to try to stop climate change while the world around us continues to head towards the cliff edge?

I think travel is easily set up as a target but I don’t think it is the sector of the economy with the worst environmental impact.

And people are not going to stop traveling. Once “the masses” got a taste of it in the 1970s when it started to be affordable, we never looked back.
 
Are we who love to travel, who perhaps made decisions throughout their lives in order to be able to travel frequently, supposed to give it up, the thing that gives meaning to our lives, to try to stop climate change while the world around us continues to head towards the cliff edge?
That is exactly the global conundrum today. Instead of the word "travel", a person can put in any other word that has bad consequences for the environment, but significant meaning for them, and ask why they should be expected to sacrifice this. But that is the problem the world is facing - how to sacrifice what is sometimes most dear. I don't have easy answers, of course, because there are none. Other than to resort to what is basically the main response around the world - to hope things aren't as bad as they sound, and to continue with what appears to be denial. Realistically, I don't think that there's much an individual can do - we're all too embedded in the consumption/fulfilment culture.
That said, I certainly agree that travel should of course not be stopped completely, and I wish all those who are on their way to new adventures, an enjoyable time. I'm just saying that this is a new consideration for me, and that until now I haven't looked at travel in such a harsh light. Probably the effect of seeing how the world changes through a pandemic.
 
After a very wet winter we had four weeks with no rain and people were talking drought. It rained a couple of days ago and today while we were out walking.

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After all the rain this month, everywhere is looking really lush and green. The bluebells are still in flower in the woods and the wild garlic is just coming into flower. The woodpecker was drumming well and there was lots of bird song.

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