Migrants into the EU

For the genuine refugees who have struggled for miles to escape war and strife I have the greatest sympathy. These true refugees should be made welcome in ALL European nations including the UK. We have only to put ourselves in their place to think how these desperate people would like to be treated. No, how we dehumanise these people is shameful.

Rowing the Atlantic

Some fly across the Atlantic in a few hours. A few choose the hard way and row across! 2 young boys set off from New York back in May and made landfall in Salcombe, Devon this week. A great many turned out to welcome them back, including BBC South from whom this video came. They are the copyright owners.

National Trust

Ickworth's wild flower meadow

For a fixed amount each year we get no charge family entry into every National Trust property in the country. We are lucky to have several properties with extensive grounds near us including Wicken Fen, Ickworth and Anglesey Abbey. We have been to 2 already just this week!

Ickworth has a fine walled garden that contains a wild flower meadow. Anglesey Abbey has both wild parts and formal gardens.  The dahlias there are just out now at Anglesey Abbey but will be even better in a few weeks.

Windows 10

Microsoft is offering free upgrades to Windows 10, but beware. The DVD player is not a freeby and I understand this has to be paid for. Like the latest offering of MS Office all is not as it first appears. MS Office 365 is a subscription service so you end up paying more. I think Microsoft is having a tougher time of late. As for Windows 10, I shall not bother. If I was more adept at Linus I'd be tempted. My most reliable PC ever was a baby Asus with 7 inch screen preloaded with Linux. This just worked.

East Anglian Churches blog updated

This Friday we went by train to Norwich with our "London" grandchildren. We visited the Castle Museum and Norwich Cathedral, which is definitely one of the finest in England.

See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/ .

FTSE 100 recovery?

Based on some generally good economic news, the FTSE 100 share index is currently up on recent days. Gains are modest, but they are gains. We should worry about China.

Life after death?

What happens when we die? I really have no idea.

I have seen a few dead bodies in my time, including my father who died back in 1987. What struck me then is that it was like a butterfly and a chrysalis: that which made him "him" was no longer there.  His body was just a shell. Somehow, I hope we do fly above the world in immortality. However, I do not remember anything before I was born and if eternity was a total absence of life, like before I was born, would this be so bad?  However, without eternity we lose our moral compass perhaps?

At one time these questions were academic but in recent years my own mortality has come smartly into focus. Nearly 2 years ago I so nearly died. I survived and may yet live many more years. All the major religions of the world talk of life after death, but is this just a way of coming to terms with our mortality? No-one has come back to tell us what is beyond the grave.

Life and death remain mysteries. All I know is we are on a journey and it is the journey that matters, not the destination. Some would argue this is the key to all the major religions: concern yourself with living a good life now and don't worry what happens after we die.  I remain agnostic and open-minded.