online: 23 october 2013
modified: 11, 14, 15, 22, 23 october 2013
11 october 2013 fallen leaves and emergencies
Sandy Heath
...walking in the morning... before the rain that is forecast from noon onwards... the air temperature has dropped about 10 degrees Celsius... for the moment all is still (apart from sounds of distant traffic)... the trees remain green though the ground is covered with brown leaves... and i can feel my hands getting cold...
...minute raindrops fall on the touch screen... so i shut down the handheld and resort to pen and paper...
...surrounded by fallen leaves i watch two magpies move nearer as they search for something to eat... the pond before us is (almost) as still as a mirror... but now ducks arrive from somewhere as they swim through green algae... leaving a watery trail...
12:14 ...walked to the cafe in the nearby park... where i can continue writing... in bower-like architecture (with sun-shielded windows on three sides)... and where all the people i can see are either attending to their handhelds or talking to each other...
...end of paragraph...
...the forecast rain has not yet arrived but i decide to return home and attend to other things...
14:01 ...on the way back the forecast rain indeed arrives from a grey cloud that spreads drizzle over the whole region... and at the bus stop there is an ambulance and a police van... a woman (who'd seen a man collapse in the bus shelter) said how pleased she was to see how quickly help came... and i wondered why it took three specialists and two vehicles... and why none of the 10 or more people waiting for buses played any part whatsoever in the rescue (apart from someone calling the emergency number)...
...in an imagined creative democracy
everyone is trained in aspects of medical (and other) emergencies and is expected to take immediate action (or to choose wise inaction) guided by computers and re-organised expertise... both before the arrival and during the presence of rescue vehicles...
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