On my doorstep*

We don't have a garden pond, but today we did have a frog on our back doorstep.  The rain we had been promised was just starting to fall, and I was retrieving the washing when I spotted it behind one of Wifie's lichen-covered stones.

The frog made me smile on a day when I was feeling dejected after the last week of events in Britain.  It feels like our country has been torn asunder by the debate over the Referendum.  We are faced with the biggest decision that any of us in a democracy will be asked to take in our lifetimes.  Yet we are assailed by lies, exaggeration, selective use of facts and the fanning of deep-seated fears - when what we desperately need is informed debate and balanced analysis of a whole raft of issues before we are forced to make a binary decision that will influence the lives of this and future generations in the UK.  

Then came the murder of Jo Cox. She was the very epitome of how we would like our politicians to be - compassionate, caring, consensual, committed, passionate, effervescent, energetic and bold.  

Sorry, I usually try and keep this journal free of the influence of the wider world.  The little frog though is a reminder that at times like this, the comforts of home, and the things that happen on our own doorstep give us hope and joy.

* 'On my doorstep' was the title of Mike's quirky journal of his life in Wifie's home village of Bishop Wilton and was the inspiration for this journal of our lives here in Arnside.