Veronika Wild

Old - fashioned flowers for my Valentine - Just loved the pinks in this  I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to St. Valentine’s Day.   When I start to see red and pink merchandise appear in the shops, I am inclined to think it’s all about making those tills ring with a well applied dose of guilt. It must be about the only time hot pink negligees with cutouts met their sales targets. Spare a thought too for those poor Koreans who have to stump up with an appropriate treat for their loved ones, not just once or twice a year, but after the first week of a romance, the first month and each month thereafter. Not that expressing feelings for a loved one is without merit, but buying things certainly isn’t the only way to do it. An ex of mine wasn’t big on declarations of love, but might show it by saying, “ Honey, I fixed your car!”   I should have known that the romance was over when he stopped doing that. As I get older, I realise that true love isn’t about fancy dinners ...

More and more movies are about Climate Change in various forms. Some I have watched lately include the very brilliant Danish mini -series "Families Like Ours" (2024) the prescient 2007 British Canadian Film "Flood," set in London and the French film "Green Tide."  "Families Like Ours" (SBS in Australia, CANAL in EU) - SBS links may not work outside Australia This was so good that I literally marathoned all 8 episodes, like a good book that you can't put down. It was about Denmark’s entire population having to be evacuated because of flooding and sea level rise. This is rather ironic because Denmark has prepared itself better than almost any country besides The Netherlands for just such an eventuality and has done more than most to mitigate against Climate Change too. Various countries offer to take what are in effectively Climate Refugees. People who have always had comfortable, predictable lives are now thrown into chaos. Strict limits have ...

Please note: The incidents mentioned below occurred during extreme heat on some of our most remote roads in outback Australia, but many of the lessons apply to anyone driving in the heat.  I started making notes about this for my son, who was travelling North across inland Australia with his family at the time, but thought they might be useful for others too, especially tourists who may never have encountered such conditions before. Australia’s inland regions can reach temperatures well above 45°C in summer. As I write Melbourne is having 45 o  C degrees  and a little place called Ouyen, along the Murray is having 48.9 o  C. Long distances, limited services, and intense heat all mean that what is merely uncomfortable in towns and cities, can be positively dangerous beyond them. Avoid Travel if Possible The best thing is of course, to avoid travel during heatwaves if at all possible, but if you must travel, here’s a list of things which certainly apply to Austral...