Island of Your Dreams

I am a fair isle of natural beauty and wondrous enchantment, a green oasis set in a vast ocean. I am clothed in a dense tropical forest which reaches down as far as the shore. There golden sandy beaches stretch for most of my length. I am bathed by warm ocean waters that glisten and sparkle in the afternoon sun. It would be fair to say that I sit in a sea of tranquillity, in an ocean of calm, in an earthly paradise that exists... somewhere out there.

The rain that falls on me is plentiful and it is usually heavy, driving in from the sea and sweeping down in sheets across my length and breadth. It may last for an hour or for a day, but when it is over I feel thoroughly cleansed and reborn. More importantly, it has made me into what I am today, a verdant jewel lush with vegetation. It has filled my forest with life of many forms and colours and of many sounds and songs.

The blue waters that bathe my shores are smooth and crystal-clear and I delight in their warm and gentle caress, in their soothing sibilant murmur. But there are times when, driven by strong offshore winds, they form tall waves that come roaring in, racing up the beach and slamming into anything in their path. And there are times when this coincides with one of the many rainstorms that lash me, and then I am buffeted by wind and drenched by rain, but I never fail to stand my ground.

Yet for all that, I am truly blessed with the best that nature can bestow... sunshine in abundance, waters that cradle me in their gentle embrace, rainfall to satisfy all my flora and fauna, beaches that form a golden girdle around me, a forest that pulses with life and is my beating heart, and... and this is vital to my well-being - a total absence of humankind! Now tell me, what more could an island like me ask for?

Before and After

BEFORE

AFTER

We took a refreshing brook with flower-covered banks and surrounding woodland and turned it into... a road system for lots of cars to crawl along bumper to bumper.

BEFORE

AFTER

We took an invigorating rushing stream banked by trees and shrubs amidst woodland... and turned it into a dual carriageway which quickly choked up with cars.

BEFORE

AFTER

We took beautiful woodlands crossed by a sluggish watercourse and... yes, you've guessed it... ran a motorway through them for... you've guessed it again... endless lines of speeding motor vehicles to drive on!

AND COULD IT ALL BE LIKE THIS AGAIN?

I DOUBT IT!

Well, there are parts of the country that are still like this or the other pictures here. The question is how long will they last. Our forests, woodlands, meadows and wild places have continued to diminish over the centuries as we concrete them over for housing and other buildings and drive roads through them. Perhaps our uplands and mountains will fare better given the difficulty involved in turning them into highways and housing estates!