CYCLES

Not these as they upset that old codger down in Eastern Hutt Valley. I don't want to set him off.

I was thinking of the cyclic nature of history and society today. Maybe it was triggered by my previous post but its seems to me that there's nothing new under the sun and everything comes around again in the end.

To save my diminishing brain power and having to write a couple of paragraphs on this here are a couple of diagrams to keep you amused focussed reading.

Now that I'm retired my daily routine is starting to look like the daily routines I had when at school during the holidays. This is waking up to a new day of possibilities with no set activities or onerous responsibilities other than what I've pre-planned. The day's activity is dictated more by the weather than by any external agencies. If it's fine then walks, tennis, golf, kayaking, gardening etc. is on the menu. If the weather is poor then reading, writing, listening to the radio, sleeping or daydreaming is the thing.

Daydreaming

On weekends when Lynn is up here my mate Rod rings her and asks if I can come out to play (tennis, golf, snooker etc).

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Over the last few generations, extended family living disappeared due to greater social mobility, more flexible and cheaper travel, higher earnings and home ownership and a myriad of other factors triggered by financial and technological advancements. People no longer stayed in the homes, communities, villages, towns and cities that they were born into. Grandparents were no longer part of the household and instead were left alone in their own houses or packed away to care institutions.

Well hold onto your hats folks because that situation is likely to change. For a variety of reasons we may soon see, once again, extended families sharing accomodation. Some of the reasons are:

• Both partners in a relationship working longer hours.
• High cost of childcare and babysitting.
• Concerns at the quality of child care and babysitting
• Decentralisation from major city living (cost and transport woes)
• High cost of housing and difficulty securing mortgage deposits.
• etc.

The last of those is creating a situation where adult children who cannot afford their own houses or the high cost of rent in cities and towns close to their employment, are choosing to stay with their parents longer or, return to living with their parents. In the case of adult children with money or income it makes more sense for them to take equity interest in their elderly parents property. By default the living situation might be quite similar to the way things were a hundred years ago with two, three or four generations living under the same roof or roofs.  This in fact could well prove to be a good thing beyond the economic expediency.  Let's hope so.