Young Colt

It's always been one of the great things about Blipfoto that it reflects what is going on in different parts of the world.  It's why it was chosen by the British Library as one of the 100 websites to watch as being a window on our society. Commentary on the day's important news has always been part of the fabric of journals and it was interesting yesterday, on the day that the United Kingdom left the EU, how different people marked the occasion.

However, one thing that has become more noticeable is an intolerance of opposing views.  The language has also ramped up in some cases, when commentary which can cause offence is used to emphasise the journalist's point of view.  In those circumstances, when someone reads those words, it's very difficult to ignore them and it can often lead to exchanges that are not in the spirit of Blipfoto.  

Part of the advice in Blipfoto's rules clearly says 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it!'.  In cases like the above, all parties could do with pausing and considering before they hit the submit button.

I've pondered how the thorny issue of 'Brexit' has impacted on relationships and to that end I came across an article on BBC News this morning 'What does healing the Brexit divide mean?'.  It uses a term 'respectful disagreement' and I do fervently hope that we can achieve this going forward and become a less divisive society.  Of course it might help if our parliament wasn't so adversarial, but that would be rolling back hundreds of years of history.  While I've mentioned Brexit, this might easily reflect disagreements on subjects in other countries of the world.  It's not about sanitising all debate, but surely it is possible to express views without using invective language.

Anyway, I was on crossing duty on a very windy day this morning.  At one particular hair raising moment (something of a novelty for me!), the horse shied away from the hedge as it rustled in the wind, moving sideways into a busy and fast moving road where I was walking, towards the oncoming traffic.  Thankfully the drivers were being respectful of horse, rider (and me) and no harm was done.

I was glad to get back to the yard where I took this shot of one of last year's new arrivals, a colt whose mane was being whipped around in the wind.

Day miles 5.4 miles, Total miles 179.7 miles