Last night Ineke and I watch the sun go down over the Atlantic, on the longest sunlight day of the year, with the Island of Islay in the distance. As we watch, the seabirds start to settle for the night, apart from the Oystercatchers, who have always got something to pipe about, in their stridently musical way. The sea is calm. Time stands still. It is idyllic.

And this morning the sun is out and summer has begun. Although in truth it feels like it arrived a month ago. I am, without a doubt, one of the lucky ones. A billionaire in everything but the bank account.



And Today? Today I am not remotely needing to think about sharing a fishing boat with seven hundred and fifty other human sardines to get away from the land I called home.

I am not a woman, or a child, who is worthy, on that same boat, only of being crammed into the below deck spaces, like lower grade sardines.

I am not in fear of my life.

I am probably not about to die a horrible death.

This Lottery Of Life is all very sobering, and it is very hard to think about sometimes. Though survivors guilt doesn’t help anybody.

But keeping a little bit of a wider perspective, leading hopefully to a smidgeon of humility and a desire to make the most of anything and everything we experience, is probably a good thing.

The truth is, whatever is coming our way today, we are all, almost certainly, one of the lucky ones.