Northumbria Police

A letter arrives from Northumbria police addressed to me and D pales .
Those longstanding followers of the blog will recognise that his keen interest in performance cars is also linked with a tendency for Speed which has not gone unremarked by more than one police force in the North of England and only last year I accompanied him to a hearing which might have resulted in the loss of licence . However he escaped by promising to turn over a new leaf and indeed selling the WRX Impreza .
Thus his fear that he may have again exceeded the limit , this time in my car .
I opened the letter with curiosity . Anyone who knows me will confirm that my driving speeds are twofold , slow and slower . I reduce obsessively to 30mph when anywhere near houses , streets , shops or people . The advertising campaign with the little girl telling us she dies if we hit her at forty mph worked for me . That coupled with the fact that I was myself hit by a car as a toddler is enough to slow me almost to a standstill at times .
So , what a shock ! the speeding was my misdeameanour , last Friday , when I drove out of Haydon Bridge at 35mph .
D's colour returns and he offers his genuine condolences about my bad luck , how unfair it is that I am to be prosecuted when only five over the limit etc , blah blah . But he can't help grinning with relief that this time its not him and .... even possibly some slight amusement that its Ms Holier Than Thou to face the music .
For half an hour I'm mortified , then I see the funny side . But from now on my driving will be Even Slower .

Cockle Picking ..?

What are the men picking at low tide ? This morning they carry buckets and pick into those . Some days though they are out deep in the water , up to their waists , and they apparently carry nothing . They bend , pick something up , bend again , but impossible to see where they store the catch .. in deep ( wet ?) pockets somewhere , possibly ? Once I sat in the rain for several minutes hoping they would emerge from the sea and I could ask them about it . But they were out there for the duration and I was drenched .

The skies stormy this morning and the seabirds shouting loudly and circling inland . A bad weather sign apparently . Not looking good for the mouth of the Tyne festival in the village today ......

(Enlarge the photo and spot the shopping trolley in the water ? Only in the North Sea ...)

Storm Damage

A tel call to the house insurance about the roof . He starts by asking what the problem is and I tell him the slate has blown off ( storm damage ) and there is water leaking and the ceiling needs re painting and the window is all wet and flaking . ( So far so good ) . He then takes the policy number and asks how I pay my insurance contributions ( with difficulty , I think , smirking to myself , on top of all the other bills ) , then he asks ( and I feel my Grumpy Old Woman irritation start to stir) , reading off a form probably , and how did the damage occur ? I resist the temptation to tell him Ive just told him , but leave a gap in the coversation to indicate my slight disbelief , and say " the slate came off " . This will serve to remind him . " And how did the slate come off? " he asks and I leave another gap . " Storm damage " . Storm damage ? he repeats , sounding slightly incredulous . " And when did this storm damage occur ? In the last storm . And when exactly was that ? No idea . I say . Well when did the slate come off ? Dunno . Deep breath . I am polite again . He has after all to fill in a form .
Later , he informs me that a representative from x company will ring me before the close of business to arrange to send someone out .
Five minutes later the aforementioned company rings , telling me that another representative will ring within four days to arrange an appointment to come out . Everything is going to plan .

Synchronicity revisited

Synchronicity.
Maybe I just like the word but I googled it this morning , whilst trying to work out why my flame wars blog wouldn't post . Simple really . I wasn't logged in . Everything in life these days involves being logged in . And being logged in is not something I am , for much of the time . Much of life sees me drift by completely unlogged in to anything in particular , except cats of course . I see a cat anywhere and the world changes colour . First entry was a wikepedia analysis of synchronicity , but not far down the list was an organisation called synchronicity.com . Within minutes I was meditating along to a "sample pack " of hi tech something or other . A man's voice and some music . The pack was billed to last fourteen minutes. After six , and when the man went silent I found myself glancing out of the window and noticing the stillness out there . No cats in view , all being next door indulging in Desk Wars . No children walking past , it being just after eight and too early for the stream of morning school passers by . No rain . The quality of the light though was too good to miss and meditation or no meditation I had to take a couple of photos , from where I sat . It didn't disrupt the meditation of course . the strangest thing , when I held the camera , there was a wide band of purple light which didn't show at all in the potograph .
Next , five minutes later , I remembered I hadn't texted Debbie about our arrangements for tomorrow .... and there was the phone right on the chair arm . I caught myself texting before I knew I was doing it . Then Laura . I needed to let her know just how tricky things had been this morning . Before I knew it I was thinking of the meditation retreats I went on with Michaela at Throssel Hole Priory and the things that distracted you endlessly from meditation in the hall with the golden Buddha statue . The way your back ached . Your knees ached . That you weren't allowed to wear make up . That your back ached . That you were falling asleep on your feet . Your knees . Your back . Your neck . And the little mouse scooting across the floor in the dining room as you picked your way across the stone flags looking for the lavatory at dead of night .

I force myself to wait until the fourteen minutes are up and google Throssel Hole .Amazing place .
This is meditation after all . The mind wandering and being brought back . Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey, Monastery and Retreat Centre in the Soto Zen Tra

test post

my previous post Flame Wars has refused to post .... lets see whats happening with this test one .

Flame Wars

Flame wars rage on the listserv which has over the years given me e mail debate and discussion on aspects of therapy . Until a week or so ago the list was struggling , after several successful years , to maintain itself . Intended initially as a discussion and help forum for those practising in a particular way , so that participants could post a problem or a situation where they were " stuck" and receive help from others more experienced or who could offer just a fresh pair of eyes , recently it has been fizzling somewhat . I blame the rain , though irrelevantly since the list involves people from all over the world . It can't be raining everywhere ?
A couple of weeks ago an ex -participant ( whom I think may have been banned at some stage in the past ) has re appeared , and stirred up considerable feeling . The usual polite , sensitive and careful postings have given way to what can only be described as flame wars .
I confess I open my In Box with more excitement than usual .
And am reminded of something I read in a Buddhist tract somewhere " is it my intention today to make war ? Or to make peace ? "

Synchronicity

Just the day after we place our first adsense advertising on the blog an article appears in The Times about blogging and money.Blogging for dosh - Times Online.
This reminds me that I really need to reread that book about synchronicity and nuclear physics which seemed to make such perfect sense at the time , though when I came to try to explain it to someone I got in a tangle and couldnt recall much beyond what I already believe about synchronicity . And now sitting here I can't recall the name of the book or even the authors name , though it is currently situated beside my bed and I step over it every night and morning . I need an article about How to stem the ageing process or Improving your memory which may be far more useful than making money through advertising .

Roofing Man arrived and looked and prodded a bit and will come back with a ladder early next week . Progress indeed .
SynchroDestiny the book was called ( I've just looked ) and the author Deepak Chopra . How could I forget though I'm now doubtful that it was about nuclear physics . What do I know about them ?

The book which is currently worth waking for at five am is Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka , who wrote the book about tractors in the Ukraine . Highly recommended .