On the chimney top of a London home comes together Stork and his friend Crow. For many years they have travelled the countryside, they have flown over many boundaries and seen many things.
“What has the world come to my friend”, says crow. Shaking his head in disbelief as they watch another busload of people disembark on their way to work, on an early wintry, dark British morning. “They are always in such a hurry. Where do they go, and do they ever reach this destination in time. Like the ducks and grebes of the lakes, they flock off before the sun comes up, and return to roost well after dark. How strange that what they do when they are away makes them unhappy. They do not go to feed, or tend to their young while away, and use their evening structures only as roosts.”
“They are a crazy people”, Stork replies. “They depend on others to bring them food. Like chicks, they have no idea of where their food comes from. I have heard that most of it even comes from other countries. I have seen it. Where once I walked in the tall grass of the savannah forest, now lies miles of ploughed earth. The insects that once were found in abundance have all but disappeared, and so have many of my insectivorous friends like shrike and robin. It is really strange. When I fly over the British countryside, it is as sterile as the built up area where these people work.”
“Do you encounter the same mentality when you go abroad”, asks crow. “Well. I must say, that the world is changing quite rapidly. When I was just a young bird, I found that areas in central Africa was pretty unspoilt. People lived of the land; they respected animals and had a close connection with their environment. Even though they worked the soil and farmed crops, they knew that if they destroyed these areas by polluting and poisoning it, they would not be able to eat what they planted. Then there was a change. Very suddenly other people showed an interest in their lands. It was about the same time when the west ran out of similar natural resources. People went mad and started killing each other while harvesting from the forests and lands more than it could deliver.”
“It must have been terrible?” Asks crow. “Well. At first I thought it would just be a madness that would grab them before they realised that doing this would be bad for everybody in the future, but then I realised that it was not the people living of the land that caused this destruction, but the people that have ran out of land from elsewhere. And the more active the destruction, the madder the people became, until one day, those that had always looked to the sky and greeted the creatures of the air, no longer noticed us. And they had become like the people here in London.”
“Now it all seems to be of no consequence. Food comes from places that these people have never seen. This has effectively removed them from their environment, justifying the destruction of everything they have no use for. People no longer speak the language of the birds and the animals, which is sad, because we have so much to gain from working together. They just become more rushed and more stressed.”
by Harry