We are on the north west coast of the island of Cyprus at my sister’s holiday home perched on a rocky coastline. We visit every year and one of our joyful tasks is rock throwing. The beach is rocky and the rocks are rolled by the currents in front of where we come down to the sea so every year we toss them to one side or another to make out a smoother sandier path to the sea.

Every year we have to start all over again – but it is joyful task where everyone participates and enjoys the tossing! The path is forming next to the red rock – a natural lump of granite the boys found and brought to the beach two summers ago.

The sea these days is like glass – so long swims and much lazing about. The sea is warm and welcoming which of course means we stay for much longer and come out like shrivelled prunes. While we love the warmth we also know it is unseasonably so -another sign of global warming – and the fish are few and far between.

Evenings are spent watching the beautiful sunsets over a Keo beer and chats about life. I hear our sons and nieces express their concerns and those of their peers about the future, for the globe, for their ability to do as much as we did, for how expensive property and life has become for them and their friends.