Near and far

Jedburgh. So it’s 3 am it’s dark I can hear the wind outside and I am alone in my parents house with a load of books.
 Feeling fragile and alone? Well not really ; I cannot feel alone and fragile because I feel connected to people precious  to me across the world who with strength and optimism are dealing with the effects of natural catastrophes: Pilar and Pedro in Puerto Rico Stephen in California with a houseful of refugees from the fire there and on the train up here from London I was talking with 2 young women from Houston Texas who seemed on one level very naive white Texan but were both nurses who had been working in hospitals in the city dealing with people impacted by Hurricane Irma. 
So who am I to feel sad for my plight? I have known this situation has been coming, and can  feel hard done by because  of my  ataxia, my teeth, my economic situation, not having seen my daughter, my parents my aloneness but really, count my blessings, when this world is suffering. Fires, hurricanes, plastic in the food chain ...I know we can only deal with our own situation but