I wonder what sort of thoughts course through the mind of Vladimir Putin? He certainly has more than most to occupy his attention. I wonder if he’s ever able to put into context the terror his actions have brought into the lives of millions.
I cannot imagine what it must feel like to be Ukrainian at the moment. Your country, your beautiful homeland with all the people and places you love, under threat. All those parents trying desperately to reassure their children. My heart breaks for them.
Despite the horror, most of my thoughts are selfishly occupied by nuclear war. I can see it all playing out: The build up of NATO troops on Ukraine’s border. The Russian forces squaring off. And one miscalculation…
I foolishly found a copy of the old Protect and Survive Pamphlet online. Published in 1980 it contains some pretty laughable ideas of how to survive a nuclear attack at home. I imagined creating my own fallout room with it’s inner refuge made from our home’s internal doors. I imagined the horror of surviving there for two weeks; all of us huddled together, the children crying. Then the fear of radiation poisoning and those scenes from HBO’s Chernobyl.
Then I think back to Putin and what might lead him to “press the button”. And what a shame it would be that the only creatures we know of that are able to wonder at the universe might be snuffed out.