Nature brings to every time and season some beauties of its own.

Charles Dickens

In the light of all the dreadful things that have been happening around the world I am endeavouring to keep track of sending Christmas cards to friends and family and posting presents, stocking up on essential supplies like cans of tomatoes and chick peas, gardening and reading a National Library interloan that has to be returned by 7 January. It is a lovely time of year with all the fun of Christmas parties and events. Even travelling by road is enhanced as motorists in Marlborough are tempted by roadside stalls selling cherries, apricots, raspberries and strawberries.

   I am trying to ignore the end of the world this Friday as predicted by the Mayan calendar. Many people it seems want to concentrate on food and drink while the world ends. I love a poem by US poet Billy Collins. The sentiment in the poem is to be doing what you love while the world returns to chaos. Apparently Jason Kerrison one of the judges on NZ s Got Talent has built a concrete bunker up in Northland and has three years’ supply of food stored. He feels people are changing from a materialistic way of life to being 'more inner-directed and spiritual'. A group has set up an eco village in Motueka near Nelson with a view to being self sufficient (NZ Listener, December 15-21).
   
   All very resourceful, but surely this is a pessimistic view of life? In the same issue of the magazine scientist Brian Cox says we should raise our eyes from the ground and look up at the stars but even he doesn’t have a lot of faith in the world going on forever on this 'little ball of rock we call home'. Imagine all the art, music and accumulated knowledge being obliterated.

   A draft decision on the new salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds could be announced this week.  People are being advised to keep an eye on the Environmental Protection Authority’s website.  The final decision is expected on 22 February 2013. Also a letter from the CEO of NZ King Salmon was published in the Marlborough Express commenting on Leona Plaisier’s petition.

Some random thoughts:

Can the devastation caused by Cyclone Evan in Samoa and Fiji be attributed to climate change and deforestation?

After the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, people are asking if changes to gun control laws will be enough? Mental illness among other issues needs to be addressed also. I read a very interesting article placed on Facebook by a friend, written by a US mother with a troubled story of her own to tell about her son's behaviour.

It was such a sensible decision to keep Salisbury School in Nelson open. The girls who attend deserve to be able to learn in an environment free from bullying and possible abuse.

The Green Party wants a second international Internet cable. This seems like a good idea as the Internet is a vital means of communication now. So many businesses rely on the internet. You can't even read the newspaper or a magazine now without seeing thumbprints you can scan with a smart phone for more news. One morning I couldn’t get a Telecom connection to check email and reply, do my banking, do online research, follow up on the day’s news or tweet.  Also I have recently joined Pinterest, an online clipboard for photographs so the Internet has certainly taken over my life.   It’s hard to believe all this technology has become essential in what feels like a relatively short period of time.  Sometimes I complain that it is all so time consuming but really I love it. I always have. I got a computer as soon as they were on the market in New Zealand, an early Apple followed by a Toshiba laptop and later a mobile phone - whenever they first appeared.

   Technology takes you into a space that writers and artists inhabit while they are creating art, a world within a world, and when you emerge you need to remind yourself what time it is, whether you have eaten, and what other things you need to do with your day.