Living river

For as long as it has been going I have usually had a few days at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and really enjoyed the talks, the atmosphere, everything about it. Sadly, this year i will not be there - not in person anyway. 

The cost of accommodation has just become ridiculous, even when we don’t try to stay in the centre. We thought we could perhaps just go for a couple of days to cut the cost of staying, but the talks we wanted to go to were too scattered. Just as I was thinking I would go for the day and just maybe see two events, I found they were offering many of the talks on a  live online basis. So I booked a series of talks - some I wanted to see and some we both wanted to see. Of course it is not the same - I do love the atmosphere, talking with other people, even wandering the crowded streets, but it’s a compromise.

So today, as Gordon was following the football - first game of the season (football in August!) - I watched Robert Macfarlane on my laptop in the sunshine. Excellent it was too. I have read most of his books, loved his Lost Words, followed his pieces in the Guardian, but I have never heard him speak, so this was a real treat. And he was with Cal Flyn, whose book Islands of Abandonment I have read, so it was far more of a conversation than can sometimes be the case.

I bought the book Is a River Alive when I was in Salts Mill last week and am looking forward to getting to it. He poses many questions to do with the rights of rivers. He gives examples of rivers being treated as objects to the detriment of the planet. He points out that they are lifelines and the need to recognise and respect their rights, as indigenous people often do and we used to do in ancient times. 

He talked about hope for the future and the people who are trying to make a difference. 

Despair is a luxury. Hope is a discipline.