November has passed and with it some of the stress. Here, in Australia, we were bombarded by fire. All up the Eastern seaboard, already ravaged by drought, the land when up in flames. Where I live was okay – just. We had fires to the north, west and south and still they burn. Today is windy, and embers can still find us; trees that are still burning inside can flare up, or fall, sending the sparks high into the air.

It has been a worrying time, and will continue to be throughout the summer. The energy expended by the fire-fighters has been tremendous – with volunteers helping with supplies and stock feed for burnt out paddocks that have left animals starving, let alone the myriads of Australian wildlife that perished. I might add that worry and stress of the community has left little ability to focus on every day living, and many people have succumbed to shock and despair. So many lost everything as the fire tore through the land, consuming everything in its path – including their homes.

Now we are all looking at the aftermath and demanding to know how this could have happened. All our national parks and swathes of bush-land have been decimated. Was this climate change? Yes – partly. Was this government changing funding for the fire service? Yes – partly. Was it the inability to do controlled burning during the winter months? Yes – partly. And finally was it through some thoughtless act of arson in some cases? Yes- partly.

We can sit and blame everyone else for the horrors of this last month – but it is time to take responsibility for our planet and our own lifestyle choices. We must adapt and begin to understand that this planet isn’t an infinite entity. We need to do some things to protect our future here – one thing that springs to mind is the need for less population. And hand in glove with this goes the greed for money, possessions and power.

How do we change the inherent idiocy of the human race?

Have you got any suggestions?