The last time I was…

…in London…

…was in February. That’s amazing – it must be several decades since I went six months without entering our capital city. Do I miss it? Not much. Do I miss the people I used to meet there – yes, some of them. Were all my journeys really necessary? No. Will I return to London one day? Of course, I hope so. Will I be there as often as before? Nothing like as often.

…in Minsk…

…I was slightly hung over because I had had to drink many toasts of vodka as part of my job (see Fighting for Birds, p270). Minsk was definitely a post-Soviet dreary city – very grey.

But I remember some of the streets where I have now seen, on TV, demonstrations in the streets and i wonder what it is like in Minsk today. Will I ever go back? I doubt it? Would I like to go back? Belarus has birds that are well worth seeing, but so does Northamptonshire, so, no, I don’t think so.

…in Portland…

…I’d been travellng up the California and Oregon coasts seeing Redwoods, Grey Whales, Tufted Puffins and more. And then I was heading inland to Idaho and Montana and Yellowstone.

Many of the areas I passed by have experienced massive fires. Every time I have been to California, three times in the last decade, the vegetation has been parched. The fires are scary.

Will I ever go back? I’d love to but I know I shouldn’t, so I probably won’t.

The world is changing and some of it is for the better, but not all of it.

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