Viva Lewes Issue #153 June 2019

COLUMN
Eleanor Knight
Keyboard worrier
Joie de vivre is
not normally
associated with
apocalypse, but
hear me out.
I don’t know
about you but
to me nothing
says good times
like a half-naked
samba band
cavorting in the spicy wafts of falafel served
from a flatbed truck that has a retired couple
from East Dulwich glued to its rear suspension.
Whatever you think of Extinction Rebellion’s
methods, they brought cross-generational
appeal and a long overdue burst of colour and
excitement to the capital. And didn’t they have
lovely weather for it.
Which is the point of course. Extreme weather
events now far surpass the traditionally wet first
week of Wimbledon and Cliff Richard’s ironic
rendition of ‘Summer Holiday’. Millions of
species – humans included – are in peril from
far worse, and as we know, all of us going on a
summer holiday has not helped with that one
little bit.
What will it take for us to change? When the
Ashdown Forest – aka The Hundred Acre Wood
– burst into flames in April (#Winniemageddon)
we might have reflected that had we but heeded
the environmental message in the great flood
narrative of AA Milne, in which an anxious
Piglet finds himself Entirely Surrounded
by Water, we might have gone some way to
avoiding the altogether darker scenario in which
that Very Small Animal is Entirely Surrounded
by Fire.
Trying to change the world’s behaviour can
leave us feeling helpless. For every plastic water
bottle we recycle,
there are millions
more clogging
the South China
Sea off Malaysia
and Vietnam,
where we – er –
send our plastic
for recycling.
For every action
we’ve organised
by WhatsApp, there’s a dead yak floating
downstream of the lithium mines on the
Tibetan border. Indeed, lithium for phone and
car batteries is in such demand that in Argentina
the water needed for extraction jeopardises
traditional agriculture, including – oh, Lewes –
quinoa.
But don’t despair. Here in Lewes we’re uniquely
situated to pioneer one small behavioural change
that will allow us to meet our doom with a smile
and a wave should we not succeed in holding
off fate altogether. It’s time to combine climate
rebellion with outdoor fitness. Yes, I’m talking
Semaphore, the internationally recognised
code of signals using flags you can easily make
at home. Switch off your phone and get up on
the Downs – ideally station a friend on Firle
Beacon or even out at sea. See? You’re feeling
better already. And if that doesn’t raise your
spirits, then the complete upper body work out
you will have given yourself by the time you’ve
signalled ‘The poetry of the earth is never dead,’
will really get the endorphins pumping, not to
mention an increase in core stability.
If you’re thinking you won’t have the strength
these days for a complex message, don’t worry.
Dig out that old Beatles album cover and make
like Piglet.
HELP.
Illustration by Hasia Curtis
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