It was one of the hottest days of the year in England late August 2015. The fan was spinning full pelt directed at my mother as she lay in her orthopaedic bed. She had been tearful and was uncomfortable in the heat, unable to walk, move much or talk apart from the occasional few words.

Her council flat was cram packed floor to ceiling with boxes of writing and piles of books, books ranging from psychology & philosophy to cosmology, theology, entomology, physics, mathematics, egyptology, medicine, anatomy, ancient history, geography, music, science fact and science fiction and a hoard of multi lingual dictionaries she had collected over the years. She had read practically all of them cover to cover. She had a fascination with the mysteries of the world – indigenous peoples, ancient history, different languages, the origin of the universe and the human race, and the evolution and origin of the spoken word. She was constantly – almost to the point of obsession – reading, writing and studying.

All she could do now was lift her plastic beaker and drink, but her eyes still reflected her intelligence. She still had a sense of humour and could still laugh. My sister would read to her my latest blog posts and she would listen intensely. I know she would want me to continue the walk.

On this particular day my father turned up to visit her, and stood in front of her bed. After seeing that she was upset he started to sing one of the songs he used to sing that she loved. She immediately stopped crying and looked up, her eyes focused on him and she listened intently to the singing, with almost a childlike expression of joy on her face. It’s one of the many moments that stood out in my mind when I heard the news of her passing.

This blog is dedicated to two people who influenced my decision to set out on this journey. Firstly my mother Patricia, who passed away only a few days ago on 25th August 2016 and to a good friend and co-worker Neil who wanted to join me to traverse part of the Amazon when i first had the idea, but left the planet long before his time five years ago today 28th August 2011.

Also a gigantic thank you to my sister Sharon & brother in-law Simon for all the hard work and unbelievable trouble involved with keeping her in her home where her long and at times troubled life ended naturally. It’s where she wanted to be. Also for the years of personal sacrifice you gave – especially Sharon, for the priceless exceptional personal care and unconditional love you gave her.

Sister Sharon caring for mum

Neil

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When you think about it, from the moment of our conception to our last breath we are all really on an adventure, in a perfectly self-contained spaceship hurtling through space around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. Whether you believe in a God or evolution or both, there’s no denying that the Earth and all the life it supports is a supreme feat of cosmic engineering.

Our Earth Is the perfect distance from the Sun to support life – life in all its forms, including the tiny seeds that grow into giant trees, clustered together to form tropical rain forests, producing oxygen, food, medicine, shelter and home to millions of other amazing forms of life, including of course ourselves. It’s miraculous that any of us have made it into this world considering the almost overwhelming odds against it.

I am no atheist, and at times life is not all sweetness and light for the majority of people, but I think this paragraph from a Richard Dawkins book and the incredible CGI animated film below sort of sums up the mind-blowing odds of any of us being here.

“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds” Richard Dawkins