Breathing it all in

I set out this morning on possibly the coldest day so far of the winter. I was in a hurry, rushing the kids to school, my daughter swinging a cloth bag around which contained her costume for the dress rehearsal of her school Christmas play. After months of sweltering summer, which appears to have finished only a short time ago, I was almost eager to feel the tang of cold air on my face, perhaps tinged with salt from the sea in the harbour, flecked with white from choppy waves as it was.

Instead, I was greeted by the stench of diesel fumes and the sight of a plume of poisonous smoke snaking its way towards me from the chimney of the Cepsa oil refinery. Ironically, though you can't tall from the photo I took just outside the estate where I live, the strong northerly wind was also turning the blades of wind turbines that dot the crest of the hills behind the refinery. No better visual proof that nations at the Copenhagan Climate Conference can rightly accuse developed countries of causing most air pollution and global warming.

I could go into a tirade against Spain and how there must be a lot of vested interests in Madrid that their government does not respond quite as forcibly as it should to stop the filth that is known to break EU regulations from polluting our air and coating our lungs and making our friends and neighbours sick with horrific new versions of cancers. But, as I rounded the corner towards the school, I spotted a similar plume of smoke, thankfully heading eastwards away from me but towards the new housing estate at Waterport Terraces, this time, from the power station. This filth, added to the unnecessary volume of traffic means I can't avoid breathing in poison. Perhaps many Gibraltarians don't notice because they are either accustomed to it, or their lungs are full of cigarette smoke.

The Government of Gibraltar has shown, with its rather watery traffic plan, and the incredible length of time it is taking to provide a new power station and shut down this old filthy one, that it does not have the cojones to be a world leader in cleaning up its local environment. Given the activities of local groups like the ESG, Gibraltarian people, or some of them, do feel strongly about the issue and want to protect the environment. But it is clear the Gibraltar government needs some heavy persuasion. After all, they are not protecting their electorate from heavy pollution.

Journeys into writing

I had the good fortune to buy this book on Saturday afternoon, and to meet its author, Vinod Mahbubani. He had a stall at the Ocean Village mini Christmas Fair this weekend and was selling signed copies of the book. I was still finding it difficult to get into the spirit of Christmas, used, as I am, to cold, miserable weather appropriate to the lyrics of many of the trite songs blasted over sound systems in the shops. But my shopping this year is happening in light tops and sandals, with perhaps a cardy to ward off the edge off the breeze lifting in from the sea. Ocean Village on Saturday was pleasantly quiet, sunny, the blue sea sparkling only a little less intensly than in high summer and the afternoon warm enough to sit outdoors and enjoy a relaxed coffee while the kids played.

But back to the book. I browsed the stalls, hands away from my purse, like the archetypal Scrooge, and encountered Vinod's (can I call him Vinny?) stall. We got chatting about the book, and about the whole process of writing. I told him about my attempts at writing and he was full of hugely useful information about self-publishing. "The hard work starts when you decide to publish!" he grinned. And not when you start writing. Vinny works hard at marketing his book and was pleased to share some of his savvy with me. It'll be a long time before I'm anyway near the stage of thinking about publishing - I still have so much research and writing to do for my book: Hell was just Next Door (like the title?!) But the information was really useful, and Vinny gave me his contact details for when I am ready to publish.

Which got me talking about writing groups, and how supportive a good writing group can be. He agreed that there should be one in Gib and apparently another writer has tried to set one up by advertising for interested people. Perhaps if I do the same, the few of us that are interested can set the ball rolling. I feel a New Year project coming on. So if any of you out there are curious or like writing - please get in touch and we could set a group here in Gib.

So back to the book. I started it on Sunday afternoon and became very quickly engaged in the narrative. A good sign for me because I am a pretty lazy reader these days and need to be kept interested. I've only got as far as the Niagara Fall so far, but am eager to read on, so thanks Vinny for a good, entertaining read. I'm not a great traveller, and it's work like your that bring the world to my doorstep.

If you haven't got Vinod Mahbubani's book, The Journey, yet, go out to the local bookshops in Gib and treat yourself. And if you're not in Gib, order one from Amazon. It's worth the read and it's worth supporting a local author.