All Ruts Lead To Rome

Today finds me in a ruminative state of mind, and what I'm ruminating about is ... ruts. 

Yes, those deep, narrow canyons in muddy roads worn down by over-frequent tyre-contact, that it's difficult to get out of. I mean habits. Lifestyle. Routines. Repetitive acts into which by chance or design we have fallen. At the age I am now, I have a lot. That's how we survive. We can't continuously scrutinate* every action afresh to judge whether it is worth continuing. We must focus on the other more important things, besides, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? And ruts work. They get you places. I'm goin' somewhere, man. Groove-y! The trouble is, what if you want to go somewhere else? Inject a little spontaneity into your life and suddenly decide you want to visit Quthing, Lesotho for some reason? Then you're gonna want out of that rut. And what happens when we try to get out of ruts? It's hard. It takes effort. If you're on a bike you might fall over and get a mouthful of dirt. 

In short, ruts suck.

But we are in them, often unconsciously, which is of course the nature of the rut. We do 'em on autopilot, allowing us instead to focus on the more important things, like replaying scenes from old films in our minds, such as Jim Carrey squeezing himself out of the ass of a giant rhino.

If you're anything like me, you wake up in the morning. You stretch. You wash my face. If it's a work day and you're prone to unnecessary facial hair, you shave. You go downstairs and play with and feed the dog. You put three cups and a glass on the kitchen counter and prepare the Four Drinks of the Healthy Lifestyle Apocalypse: coffee, warm water, green tea and orange juice. You take them upstairs and imbibe them in the following order: warm water, to clean your insides; coffee, because it tastes nice; orange juice, because it's cold; and finally, once it's had a chance to cool down slightly, the green tea, which if you're not careful can burn the darn mouth off you.

So what's my point, I hear you ask, or in the comments, read. Well, my point is, as busy as my past year has become, I've been forced to prioritize, which has meant pruning my own personal tree of life. Snipping off the branches which, perhaps were nice to have, in order to make room for the more important trunk. 

Perhaps I've pruned too much. Maybe the tree of life needs those branches, otherwise it's nothing but a pointy, brittle, fruitless, birdy-less stump, no more able to grow or bend than dry, dead wood.

It strikes me that a rut is basically a long, narrow, endless cage, with the same windowless view on either side that we sleepwalk along like automatons; blinkered shuffling sheep-zombies guided towards inevitable sheering, dipping, or worse - death. 

On a happier note, solutions abound! Skive a day off a week just to do something different, new, fresh. Take risks. Leave your phone at home. Talk to strangers. Embark on journeys without knowing the destination. Do some of the stuff you haven't done for ages just for the hell of it.

Here, rather than me publish a long list of things I used to do that brought happiness, why don't you take out a piece of paper and a pencil and write down all those things you have fond memories of doing, but have not done in so long. Keep going until you can think of no more. Then stick it to your wall or door - wherever you can see it. Dip into it whenever you feel you're in a rut.

*I know.

More Trees In West Lothian - For Free (An Open Letter To West Lothian Council)

Dear West Lothian Council,

All around West Lothian we see houses sprouting up like pop up books, turning green fields into carbon factories. While housing is of course necessary, and the addition of solar panels on all new builds commendable, I don't see many trees going up. In fact I see many mature ones coming down.

While out walking this morning I was struck with a simple idea for increasing the number of trees and bushes in West Lothian for free, and thus improving air quality, water retention and temperature moderation in the upcoming floods and heatwaves of all the winters and summers that loom before us.

If we decide to take climate change seriously, and I believe West Lothian has declared a climate emergency, we need to act as if it's an emergency and make changes large and small, as soon as possible.

My small idea is this: Instruct grass cutters to avoid the perimeter under the branches of trees in parks.

And no more pesticides at the base of trees either. This will allow wild grass and flowers to thrive, providing more habitats for insects and pollen for bees, but more importantly, allow seeds that each tree drops every autumn a fighting chance to germinate and grow little by little beneath the parent tree. By regularly cutting the grass under each park tree for the sake of appearance or tidiness, we are prematurely decimating the naturally occurring young trees before they get a chance to crop up.

If this new policy is adopted, cutting the grass in parks and public places would save time, and therefore council funds. Trees have been linked to the improvement of  local air quality and therefore not only the mental health, but also the respiratory health of the local population. The tree and bush sections in Howden Park in Livingston are an ideal example of this.

The first year: slightly longer, messy circles of grass beneath each tree.

The second year: circles of untidy, wild grass

The third year: Wild flowers and tree seedlings start to appear

The fourth year: The stronger tree saplings grow, alongside those of any other seeds carried there by the wind.

The tenth year: a circle of adolescent trees and bushes, with the parent tree in the centre.

There may be complaints of untidiness, but as was seen during lockdown, I think most people will understand the situation and accept the longer, wild grass, flowers and tree saplings sweeping the towns and villages, and most may even appreciate the boost to local wildlife.

Implementation of this policy across West Lothian will, I firmly believe, have a long-lasting positive impact on local health and well-being, land stability, and insect populations, not to mention provide natural carbon sinks to help fight the battle against CO2 emissions. West Lothian would be taking the lead in carbon retention and other counties might even follow suit. All, basically, due to working less and saving time, fuel and money.

If this suggested policy could be discussed by the council at the next convenient opportunity I would hugely appreciate it.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Young