I’m sure I’ve mentioned before my discomfort with “The News”. Call me a coward, but I struggle with the enormity of the hatred, suffering, and general nastiness we humans deal out and deal with on a daily basis, being dished up as entertainment while masquerading as a virtuous attribute; “I pride myself on keeping informed.” A long time ago, I stopped reading newspapers and watching the television news and now even Google has got the message (although it still feels the need to pop up “teasers” regarding the latest Beckham drama or Harry/Meghan, William/Kate speculation on occasion) because…well, it all really upsets me but, unlike other things that touch my life, I can do absolutely nothing about it.
That is, except distance myself.
Now Farm Girl is back in the main stream she’s being harangued to “keep informed” because, apparently, it’s what “educated, intelligent people do”. I’m not convinced but then I’m more of a history fan; Winston Churchill’s “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” to the soundtrack of Crosby, Stills and Nash “Teach Your Children Well” sums it up nicely for me. Just remember what happened last time or what it felt like when you were there and act accordingly.
Speaking of which, here we are, back in Lock Down.
One of our number (an educated, intelligent one) tells me we’re getting a bit of a hammering from the international press about it; that’s what got me thinking about the whole keeping informed thing. I guess it sells papers or subscriptions or advertising or whatever drives “The News” but (and I admit to not reading any of it) maybe it’s mainly driven by a little bit of delight in the little fish who “squashed the curve” having it rear up again.
Whatever the reason, we’re back to a spell of the quiet life.
Farm Girl is homeschooling the conventional school way, The Resident Engineer once again has her office in the living room, The Bean Counter’s workplace is gleaming, The Farmer is getting home from his evening job (his day work is unable to operate at level 4) before the rest of us retire for the night and I…mainly I have to remember not to sing too loudly as I go about my day because nothing is more embarrassing than a warbling homesteader interrupting your Zoom meeting. Oops.
Now, news I believe worth broadcasting is the rise in population of our sheep flock. Born yesterday morning to our flock boss, Ivy, a boy and a girl, Mum and kids well.
More timewasters…just when we have a bit of an overabundance of it!
Union Homestead 
I also struggle with wanting to be informed about the world versus needing to be present in my own small part of it. Long ago, I decided that trying to live a good life and make a difference in my small part of it was what I should do. I can’t change the world, but I can change something. (Was that Mother Theresa’s mantra?). And amidst the doom and gloom of rising Covid cases in Saskatchewan (the 3rd wave? The 5th? The 11th?), my first grandbaby, a boy, was born this weekend. And the world is suddenly distilled down to the innocence, and the perfection, of Connall Francis Jack Bannerman. And life is good.
Congratulations! Thats worth shouting about!
Congratulations!
Such good news about the twins! Congrats to Ivy (and you!). No one out here can throw stones at NZ regarding your lockdown – none of us have handled things any too well. Last I looked you had 107 cases, and were hot on the contact tracing trail(and it was still all North Island).. Way up here, BC has roughly the same population as NZ and we have 600+ NEW cases/day (give or take). And we’re 75% fully vaccinated. So ignore any hammering….if you want a piece of hot Canadian news (you can handle this one) Quispamsis, a very small town in New Brunswick (the other coast of Canada) has some residents complaining to the town council about too much bee poop in their back yards. It made Canadian headlines today. True story, you can google it.
Blimmin’ messy bees…cant see the point of them 🤣🤣🤣
I am afraid I disagree with you, it is important to know what is happening out there even if there seems to be little you can do about it. An ignorant population can be easily manipulated thus making things worse. Glad about the new lambs though.
You’re so right about not being ignorant but I think that often the sources offering “the news” are doing their fair share of manipulating us. I try to aspire to being aware and thoughtfully informed. I don’t see a lot of news sources offering that.
I quite understand what you mean.
New lambs, so lots to celebrate! My newspaper of choice is the Midland Express which services the Macedon Ranges and the Shire of Mount Alexander. I like seeing how many people I recognise in the photos and read the letters to learn what are the local hot topics. People care about what happens in their towns. I learn about what is happening in the wider world via the public broadcaster, the ABC. I agree what passes as news is often overly doom laden. Apparently more and more people are becoming ‘news averse’ because what is broadcast is so ghastly. The ABC has started an email newsletter called the “Bright Side” to offer an alternative for people who would like to read news items which focus on solutions or constructive topics. All of Victoria is in lockdown right now – sigh!
You reminded me I DO read a newspaper, our local Malvern News. Full of local happenings and the best place to find someone to fix a fence or prune your trees 😊
You may rest assured that you have nothing but sympathy from this household about your outbreak. It must be really annoying after you have done so well.
The more pessimistic (realistic??) amongst us felt it was simply a matter of time. Now we just need to make the lock down work.