Just one lady

13 November

We got up this morning expecting high winds and heavy rain; right now we have a nice breeze blowing, a clear blue sky and no sign or rain … forecasters? Ye gods … … …

Depression is a killer; I’ve said that before a number of times. It’s also non-respecter of place and position. We have heard about the likes of the Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock, and more lately Robin Williams, all of whom killed themselves because of depression. These three men were comedians but the other day I read this on social media, ‘”I didn't appreciate or understand my life" - Angelina Jolie opens up about her depression:’ How sad that such people as these have all the success they have in their careers and still suffer from depression so much.

Depression is a mental illness, an invisible illness that is so debilitating. There are calls for the stigma about mental illness to be eradicated within the general population, a call that I wholeheartedly support. But is it really a realistic call when even the government (of whatever colours, treats it as if it should be kept quiet, hidden away and not spoken about. Not only that funding for its treatment is being cut more and more, and yet people are killing themselves because they see no other way out of their situation, which in all probability was caused by the same government actions.

Whatever, whenever I see something on the few social media sites that I subscribe to, that promotes better treatment for mental illness, then I shall share it in an attempt to bring it much more open and so do away with the stigma. I urge all my readers to do the same too.

Do you remember Diane Fossey? She was the Gorillas in the Mist lass. Yesterday we watched one of recorded shows in the Natural World series; it told the story of another remarkable lady who has spent the last 20 years watching over Jungle elephants in Africa. While I watched it I got to thinking as to why it is down to just one lady to try to protect those animals from poachers. Now after her 20 years of work she is looking at retiring, as said, she’s not getting any younger and is now finding some things harder to do. But again, why just one lady?

The only animal that needs tusks are elephants and yet so many people, mainly Chinese people want those tusks for carving into decorations. What will they do when there are no more elephants; and no more rhinos? Over the last couple of weeks the amount of waste we produce has been in the headlines, but can you think of anything more wasteful that killing an animal for just ivory or horns? They leave the carcass to rot where they fell. So much waste wherever we look, even in the poorer nations of the earth.

Today’s photo … 

A water feature we found one time.

Today’s funny …

Contest in a girl's college: write a short story which contains religion, sex and mystery. Winner's story: "Oh god, I am pregnant, I wonder who did it."