The inhabitants of the British Isles, along with much of Europe, are currently basking in glorious weather. Warm, sunny, BBQ-inspiring, smile-evoking, relaxation-inducing, glorious weather. The kind of weather that leads lesser mortals like me to even share guilty jokes about not everything about global warming being bad.

If we didn’t already know that our joy at the this local (possibly global-warming related) effect was selfish and superficial then recent coverage of the warning by Sir Muir Gray and others that doctors  neglect climate change at their patients’ peril will have called us suitably to task. 

Now it’s not that I want climate change to continue to escalate out of control, even if it does mean that in the short term quality of life in the UK notches up a grade. And nor do I underestimate or wish to diminish the health consequences of climate change already experienced by so many around the world. Nor is it that, sitting in my own relatively protected part of the world ecosystem, I lack either the imagination or compassion to appreciate the trivial nature of my preoccupation this sunny weekend with BBQs, boats and insect bites.

Instead I guess I’m writing this blog because important as the big things are there are times when all of us, for one reason or another, find ourselves remembering how important the small things are:  the here and now, the nearest and closest, the getting through another day and then another, the simple pleasures of a shared meal, the sound of the ocean, the sun on our faces. And because for all of us, caring about the big long term things only really makes sense, on a human scale, if the little things are good at least some of the time.

So I’m happy to report that this weekend that was the case for me and mine. And it was good. I hope the same is true for you. And if it isn’t then I hope that before long at least some of those little things work out for you and that that will make the bigger things a little easier to face up to.