Day: Jun 5, 2020

Pandemic Pondering #79

On By theoldmortuary.designIn FriendsLeave a comment

Easing out of lockdown. Not so long ago conversations with people other than those that share the same home was a bit random or coincidental. We may have been deprived of hugs or the normal interactions with friends but our local to @theoldmortuary life has had some amazing revelations. We now know all of our near neighbours, and have had time to talk at length with many of them. We’ve made some new friends from distant places, distant in lockdown is not so far as it used to be. Being coincidentally in the same place at the same time made Coronafriendships. Social distance garden meetings have been lovely with our more longstanding friends.Today was a bit of a novelty, we had two meetings with two different pairs of friends . It felt novel and a little bit exciting . Giddy even.The morning started with a summer playlist . The stand out track was Peaches by The Stranglers . Such is my weird pandemic head that without thinking I chose these two garments to wear today, and the curious meandering that is Pandemic Pondering #79 formed itself.Back to The Stranglers. Peaches is one of those pieces of music that everyone is familiar with because bits of it are sampled in TV shows and other music. It was considered to be a seminal punk song in 1977 when it was released.
Listen to Peaches (BBC In Concert 23/04/77) by The Stranglers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/the-stranglers/peaches-bbc-in-concert-23-04Enough of the Peaches, back to the nattering. This morning’s meeting was with people I’ve known for around 30 years, there have been some gaps, but now we see each other regularly and laugh about ridiculous stuff. The talk is non stop. After three hours we had jaw ache. A brief break and we were off to nattering session 2 this time with someone we met a couple of weeks before lockdown , more nattering and laughing at preposterous things . We completely forgot to mention Book Club which had been the plan. More jaw ache.Laughter is an amazing thing , it jiggles your belly and burnishes your mind.With my mind burnished and my belly jiggled it’s back to peaches. I’ve had a trawl through the photo archive and plucked out some peach images and had a look in the colour theory books. The photo file was a richer source of peachy stuff than the books. Peach seems a little overlooked in colour theory world.Peach represents immortality in Chinese culture. It is named for the interior flesh colour of the white Peach. It is a range of soft colours between pink and orange. It was first mentioned in literature in 1588.Art Deco in the 1920’s and 30’s used a lot of peach.With the randomness of the internet I can also share a code , which I accidentally wore today. In the gay community a ‘ bear’ who wants to hook up with other ‘bears’ wears a peach bandana. Exactly my choice for the new government guidance of face covering for public transport.Peaches from the archive.Last year’s Cafe Au Lait Dahlias.Close ups of a peachy rose.Autumn foliage in the garden.A tiny shell on a beach in Cuba.A peach trumpeted daffodilFriends , peaches and The Stranglers, that was a curious blog, sometimes they just write themselves.Have a peachy weekend.

Pandemic Pondering #78

On By theoldmortuary.designIn insonia2 Comments

There has been a lot written or broadcast in the news recently about research by psychologists into sleep disturbance and vivid dreaming during the Pandemic.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/insomnia-and-vivid-dreams-rise-pandemic-anxiety-180974726/

I seem to manage both in the same night. I can struggle to sleep , often not knowingly getting any sleep before the dawn chorus starts and then sleeping deeply and having vivid dreams.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/campaigning/let-nature-sing/birdsong-radio/

The link above is the sound I gently drop off to sleep with. Although most mornings here there is the 4am Harley -Davidson commuter . His motorbike farting its way past the house with the familiar deep thrum, recognisable by most of us and adored by many, it is not a great addition to the sounds of nature.

I won’t put a link in here for an audio clip of a Harley-Davidson. Far too brutal a sound for this pondering. This is a blog that feels tranquil even though temporary insomnia is hardy a soporific subject.

Maybe it’s the abstract sounds that then fuel the vivid dreams. Recently the theme seems to be lost or misplaced things. Whole paintings that I have never painted and then go missing, these worry me greatly in the dreams and it takes a good bit of resolve not to go hunting for them when I wake up. Last night it was missing photographs. My wakeful hours at night don’t seem to be particularly troubled by overthinking. Like everyone, I’ve got a fair bit going on in my head during this pandemic but sometimes I just lie awake because sleep is simply eluding me.

The birdsong link is something I would really reccomend as a lovely listen and a blog about temporary insomnia is as good a place as any to share it. For the same reason I’ve filled this blog with Allium photographs .

Alliums are the epitome of tranquil expressed as a flower. Solitary and calm, I love them.