Reaching out ...

Early walk before the resumption of rain, still welcome here, if not by those trapped indoors during the week and relying on weekend respite for vitamin D top-up ... FT offers some information beyond the sponsored feeds from FB ... rainy Sunday morning perfect for writing, what with blog and press release and leaflet promised for promotion of Community Garden ...

Yesterday, with sunshine and showers, sees a rare busy day of socialising ... a morning trip to Durham for the North-East Permaculture Convergence ... good to catch up with old friends from that world and to see a merger with Transition Towns, always attracting much the same list of characters ... a chance to share some thoughts on Community Gardens with others involved in similar projects, though, to be honest, none of the above really resonating and the energy of so many folks simultaneously speaking in five separate groups frazzling the brain, meaning a lunchtime escape to the silence ... before which an inspiring talk from Malcolm Green on an eco- village project in Cameroon offers great insights on community development challenges in Africa as well as the yearning of young men to experience Europe ... anyway, you can find out more on their website www.betterworld-cameroon.com ...

The evening event in the Church Hall was the barbecue, indoors due to the rain, and some chat with friends in the community for a while ... community garden apparently attracting support from local colonial outpost of the Council ... a mixed blessing, since small amounts of cash are usually followed by large amounts of paperwork and advice ... let's see how that turns out!

Back at the retreat cottage and currently home, friendly new neighbours arrive, with four children and three dogs, bringing youthful energy to the place ... looking like a weekend and holiday base for now ... as for more tranquil retreats, the Land of Joy calls on Friday and lasts until Monday ... a Buddhist Place to Be in North Northumberland, it awaits reports next week as to whether it lives up to the inspired name ... though,of course, that rather depends on the retreatants rather than the place itself ... the already known Barn at Sharpham tempting with a week at the end of September, maybe combined with Brockwood, before escape to Tavira and next stage of dental work ...

Hyperbollox

It has been reported that English folks tend to enjoy understatement in comparison to an American preference for hyperbole ... mass media in both places, however, stretch the credulity of the gullible with their stories of doom and gloom ... weather in Little Britain, previously known as the Disunited Kingdom, currently swings from savage blasts of sweltering heat to torrential downpours, the message being "stay indoors and keep watching the telly, drinking beer, cheering football teams, cheering or jeering politicians, depending on your opinion, created by a combination of your pre-programmed predilections and current dramas" ... and before leaving the mistaken impression that "American" means inhabitants of the U.S.A. , indeed a lazy and misleading usage, profuse apologies to Canadians, and inhabitants of Central and South America ... meanwhile, in Stanhope, the weather has been a little warm and yesterday's thunderstorm provided a welcome respite, not least for the thirsty land ...

The village provides an outdoor heated swimming pool for exercise and cooling off, thanks to sterling voluntary effort ... a great resource for locals and holidaymakers alike ... old-timers recall a more remote, natural pool up in the hills, before the facility appeared, and since water free from chlorine and urine and location free from crowds is preferred, a walk through the woods and along a tricky trail is rewarded with water deep enough to swim in, warmed by a series of limestone pavements the stream crosses along the way ...

Meanwhile, preposterous politics persist, popping up in FB feed, since advertising is a major source of revenue for the corporate giant of social media, along with data gathering for onward sale to those entities wishing to find new ways to brainwash us ... a compelling interview with Noam Chomsky suggests the "Trump" role is a deliberate distraction from a behind the scenes plot to deconstruct the state and its regulatory functions ... in Little Britain the drama is about breaking free from the clutches of the pesky Europeans (as if L.B. was somehow not in Europe), whilst dire economic consequences are predicted ... indeed already fruit and vegetables are rotting in the ground as Eastern European pickers, finding the hospitality strained, seek friendlier countries ... the jobs opened up to native Britons mostly declined ... all leading to the strong possibility that the process will lead nowhere, Brits will continue to enjoy freedom of movement in the rest of Europe, whilst behind the scenes deconstruction of the state has passed less noticed ... let's see!

In the relative reality of local life, wild raspberries are picked, elderberries and blackberries ripen, mushrooms await their turn, community projects develop, friendly folks stop for conversation, and a kinder world evolves ... and whether or not the little cottage in Stanhope can be called a retreat or just a shelter to be sometimes shared, it is surely the Place to Be just now ...

Stanhope Summer

Writers need holidays too, and since "writer" has been accepted as one of the facets of the rather complex organism known as "me", where better to take a break from writing than Stanhope in summer?

However, the muse resumes, prompted by the editor, who appears to enjoy the ramblings, offers occasional suggestions and generally plays the roles of "reader", "editor" and friend, along with "retired radical", "gardener", "bon viveur" and others better known to him"self" ...

The house is finding its own role, apart from shelter for the writer, as mini-retreat for guests in the gift economy ... and in this version of that concept, where each of us, taking a human incarnation, arrives with a gift, or maybe gifts, for the world(s) ... our choice is: to notice the gift and offer it; to notice it, commoditise it and sell it; or ignore it and pursue inauthentic paths prescribed by parents and other societal influences ... option two, a controversial topic in the so-called spiritual sphere, has the obvious disadvantage of changing the nature of the gift, since, by definition, a gift is no longer a gift if sold and not given ... and having spent a lot of energy examining the nature of money and its toxic potential, radical action is required to subvert its current absurdity, where ones and zeros on computers represent "money", any relation to an equitable exchange of value (my ten cabbages for your sack of spuds) has disappeared and the whole illusion is held in place by a hypnotised populace and armed police and other agents of the entities running the show .... whoever "they" may be ... possibly just aspects of "us" exaggerated? Or visitors from other dimensions, planets ...? Option three passes for "normal" and leads to all sorts of problems in the psyche, individual and collective ... as Alan Watts and many others have advised, "Do what you love, the universe takes care of the details" ... having the courage, which is the wisdom of the heart, to live this truth is not always easy ... and paradoxically, when in that flow, life seems to be living itself somehow ... trying to understand it with the fear infected mind too often the constant misguided companion ...

Anyway, visitors have arrived and enjoyed the simple comforts and surrounding delights, near and a little further, on foot and car assisted ... from the Land of the Free, sometimes known as Trumpistan, from Brockwood and the editor himself, on a visit from his summer retreat in France ... renovations still required, though all facilities are operational and since visits are priceless a few cosmetic changes may be excused ... yellow bathroom furniture apparently not as trendy as when first fitted ... solid fuel central heating, whilst cosy, rather labour intensive and climate unfriendly ...

As for the complications ensuing from the return to house and car ownership, they are seen as grist for the mill ... the free, wandering life a retreat and moving meditation ... re-engaging with community another practice along with the trickier task of more intimate interbeing ...

The library, in its third iteration, grows ... a boxful of books from Brockwood filling current shelf space ... recent trip to Findhorn adding the weird and wonderful Nature spirituality of Dorothy Maclean and Ogilvie Crombie ... who knows which book may spark with visitors, provide a piece of the jigsaw?

Since retirement is mostly one long holiday, a holiday from the holiday turns out to be a week at Brockwood as a volunteer, working to free the organic vegetables from unwanted competitors, otherwise known as "weeds" ... quite hard work in the sun, itself a good thing to experience briefly ... father's Protestant Work Ethic having been long resisted ... the fellowship of folks from around the world and different generations a real joy ... being part of the week-long bonding process fascinating and rewarding ... car enabling brief reunion with nearby friend and lover from another time ...

Meanwhile, the large and tempting house on Front Street, having replaced the "For Sale" sign with one saying "Sold" ... a small surprise met with equanimity ... quickly reverts to the previous status, raising the question of whether there is any energy out there for this dream of A Place to Be in the middle of Stanhope ...