I have not written for a while, I have been occupied by other things, but the summer season for the open air pool has ended and I now have more time on my hands.

Since I last wrote it seems so many bad things have happened from terrorist strikes to hurricanes and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, little helped by the buffoonery of our own Foreign Secretary. Yet what is happening in Spain causes me great sadness. A great European country suppressing democracy and turning the apparatus of the state on its citizens.

The world probably does not need more countries at the moment, and I am sure that Catalonia is forcing the issue, but the state has reduced their autonomy and started to suppress the region in a manner similar to General Franco. This adds to the tragedy as we are seeing a rerun of the events of 80 years ago. Police leaving other parts of Spain being feted by the population. Our Nationalist friends in Scotland are supporting and drawing parallels to their own grievances, but they had a democratic referendum and we have not sent police north of the border with batons and rubber bullets. They may not like where they are, but they are there at the hands of their own countrymen through a democratic process. I may not hold their ideals, but I support their concerns for Catalonia, although I suspect for different reasons.

So my blog is back, but not how I wished to start it for the autumn.