‘How do we maintain our sense of humour when faced with disaster and even extinction, although the latter is a longer process?’ I asked Camp when we were both settled in our customary seats at our seaside pub.

            ‘We can wallow in doom and gloom, moan and groan, feel sorry for ourselves and the whole human race or just get on with it, have a laugh, see the beauty all around us and cherish those close to us.’

            ‘Are you being serious Camp or is this just a refined form of sarcasm?’

            ‘No, I’m serious. Without humour and fun, we’re doomed for sure. Laughter is the one free commodity we can take as much of as we want to and the best medicine for depression or just a bad mood. To laugh at oneself is also rather sobering. Nothing quite as ludicrous as taking oneself too seriously.’ 

            ‘I guess that’s why it’s called gallows humour. As someone said to me the other day: It is difficult to conceive of any sense of humour about impending extinction.’

            ‘I suppose we could just give up and resign ourselves to this apocalyptic vision of tomorrow and then what? Life goes on if we like it or not. The human race will probably survive; maybe in the millions rather than billions, maybe we’ll grow palm trees and pineapples here in the Pacific Northwest and Greenland will be green again. Or I can join the new religion where the gospel is that everything from climate change to Covid is a conspiracy.’