The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3460 by Angharad Copyright© 2024 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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The next morning I was thinking of Trish's response to my request to keep in touch and felt rather unsettled by it. Youngsters are very dismissive of anything that questions their right to do anything, including risk taking. It explains why so many young men fail to reach maturity, that and suicide, and we know that testosterone, especially in the presence of young women, makes young men compete in the stupidity stakes to outdo each other, often with tragic consequences. At least, the testosterone element doesn't worry Trish anymore, but she is naturally very competitive. Mind you so is Danni, and she uses hers as part of her motivation in the soccer matches she plays. She is naturally more athletic than Trish but equally problematic at times.

Life's pendulum swung back to more mundane matters and I was able to get some university work done, the TERF situation seemingly over for now, although we tried to watch them to be prepared for future action. Simon's intention to destroy the American millionaire, went far enough to neutralise his threat and when the money dried up, so did the TERF problem, so things were under some control now, thank goodness.

We had a brief fall of snow on Wednesday which was very early and people gave vent how it was a portent of the winter to come, while others rubbished theories of global warming - 'everything should be warmer and drier'. It shows that many are aware of climate change but not what it means and probably climate disruption may be a better term for it because we are certainly experiencing that, with very wet weather, and sudden cold snaps. When the next heat wave happens here, perhaps they'll stop complaining about the cold and the wet as they die from heat exhaustion.

We get reports of climate change not being taken seriously by governments, which is probably the case. It's also suggested that a rise of two or three degrees Celsius is quite likely by the turn of the century. When you look at all the droughts, fires and floodings, many would say it's already here. Trump's choice to run the US environment department is an oilman and a reputed climate sceptic. So, if major carbon polluters don't seem to care, what chance things getting better? The short answer is we are fucked. The long answer is because of the oil industry, which has made zillions for the US, things will continue to get worse. Until we operate at continental levels to do something about mitigating CO2 and other greenhouse gases we are heading for disaster. In Europe, we may be any way as Putin seems to be making progress again Ukraine, backed by China, North Korea and Iran - all pariah states with little semblance of democracy, and with Trump in charge Kyiv seems likely to have to make disagreeable settlements with the Russian menace.

So the future is uncertain, biodiversity seems to worsening through habitat destruction, pollution and pesticide use by agriculture and development of greenfield sites, That coupled with climate change could have very serious consequences for us all. At the moment, the agri-lobby which includes the farmers is attacking the Labour government who have raised taxes. But no-one I see in the papers have suggested that farmers produce some of our food, but also should say they produce 60% of the pollution in our waterways, a high percentage of the loss of biodiversity through pesticide use and persecution of certain species, such as badgers and birds of prey.

We hear farmers complaining about government stopping them from supplying food to the people, which is all they want to do. It's crocodile tears because they want to make large profits as well and screw wildlife. Many of them don't give a toss about wildlife and I must admit I don't have much sympathy for a group who have, along with American oilmen, destroyed much of the world as it was when I was kid. When I think about during Tom's lifetime, it is far, far worse.

Danni gets regular updates from Tina, especially how her life has changed and how she's having trouble coping with it. She is seeing a gender clinic, but as I have said before having to go abroad for blockers and mones, so her position is looking much improved. Her father is still very ill in hospital, but I see that as nearly self-inflicted. If he had accepted his new daughter, it wouldn't have happened. At least I wasn't involved in the shooting this time, and even here, he brought the gun along, meaning to use it and almost succeeded. It's awful to think about.

We were looking at exam questions and marking protocols. It may seem early, but we usually have several arguments about it, what should or shouldn't be in the curriculum, and it can hold up things for anything up to a month.

You must remember that we are an institute of education and learning, and we have some post graduate students who aren't sure what they want to study or if they have grants for research. One that we are considering is the colonisation of temporary ponds/pools left by the root boles of fallen trees. If you look at trees that have blown over, they often have a root mass attached and when the tree falls, its roots are ripped out of the ground leaving a hollow behind. With rain and other forms of water flooding into said hole, there is a chance for a temporary or short term pond, which gives an opportunity for aquatic animals, insects, microorganisms and water plants to colonise it. According to a new book I've recently obtained, no one is researching it, the colonisation and by what, so we now have a student applying for all sorts of grants from water bodies, and guess who is supervising him? You know I enjoy playing about in ponds, so perhaps it meets a need in me as well. My name should also be included in any papers he publishes, so it meets a double need for me. I am a scientist and am expected to publish some research all the time. Finding time is the problem and also doing something I enjoy, that usually means it's not really work. It could be fun, we have been looking at sites in the New Forest and some more local wet woods. Other things have stopped me being as involved as I'd have liked but at least this way, I am involved.

That night when I went home, I checked all my equipment at home, including my outfits, waders and nets. I don't use jam jars today I have plastic pots, test tubes petri dishes and larger trays for examining my catches. My student, Mike, has a history of pond dipping as a kid too, so we should get on famously and it should improve my identification of aquatic animals. We're only listing macroinvertebrates, such as insect larvae, not bothering with lesser sized things, but that needs studying too. Do tardigrades come into that, seeing as most are less than 1mm? We shouldn't be looking for those, but they are such amazing animals and virtually indestructible. Some people describe them as water-bears, but they are an order of their own and nothing to do with Ursa.

That night I had a bit of a barney with David, him accusing me of abandoning piles of junk in his kitchen. I reminded him that I cooked there regularly before him, the so-called junk was scientific equipment and if I hadn't been so busy I have put it away days ago. The girls helped me tidy it away in the storage room behind my study, where it had been before I felt a need to check it. I cleaned it up as we went along, not having used if for a few years, and listed things I needed to replace.

We listened to the gales blowing outside and were glad that we had a nice warm house in which to live. I worried that it stood so tall, three storeys plus a cellar, so it was quite a high building and I related my worries for it to Daddy. He seemed slightly amused telling me I was a 'worrit knickers', that it had been here for two or three hundred years and he expected it to last at least as long again. I wasn't so sure and Storm Bert, seemed a vicious creation of nature, helped by climate change. Okay, when Beethoven repeats a theme, everyone thinks it's brilliant, when I do it, they just complain. It is used regularly in lecturing, because it helps the audience remember items that are thought to be important. It's also an established technique in NLP, where things are seeded during a session and then are reaped or collected at the end of the session, Billy Connolly used it during his stage shows, particularly when telling long jokes, but then he is married to a clinical psychologist, although he no longer performs. I must admit, I didn't particularly care for his material, finding it crude and unfunny at times but i wouldn't have wished Parkinson's disease on him, poor chap.

"Mum, come quick," called Hannah and I rushed to her side. She was looking down the garden and a tree was swaying in the wind. Suddenly the wind seem to ease then blew with a terrific force and the tree toppled. It was away from the house but would require a chainsaw to tidy up as I didn't think we'd be able to pick it up and replant.

"You've got a root hole to play with now," said Danni, "I suppose I could look at it regularly and compare it to Mike's research.

"Nothing to stop you doing a dissertation for your BSc."

"You'll help me?"

"We'll deal with that later, I can't help you too much, it'll impair your research, but I can loan you equipment and a microscope and loads of books."

"You'll help with identification of bugs and things?"

"I expect so, I have loads of field guides for you to use, and remember each one is a bona fide reference, as ID will be important."

"How long will it take to fill with water?"

"If it keeps raining like this, no time at all, but it could take much longer for things to become established. As soon as it's dry take photos of the concavity and also measurements, drawings, analyses of soil types and so on, then you can chart its development as a pool and its inhabitants."

"Sounds complicated to me and a lot of work."

"Danni, it is for a degree not Mars bar wrappers."

"Yeah, okay, I'll look at it tomorrow, will you show me how to go about it?"

"What is difficult in taking a few measurements and photos?" I was beginning to feel an element of laziness entering this and said so, whereupon Danni flounced out of the room.

"If it was Trish you'd help her," was thrown at me as she left.