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Every year, our autumn is accompanied by bills. The car insurance, service, and tax all come together, some meek indulgences of summer still need to be paid for… etc.
Keats’ ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ comes with a dearth too.

But, as the church bell tolls eleven, and the autumn sun is unseasonably warm, sitting in the garden in a suburb town of Leicester, we are thankful.

Autumn. “We don’t have much, but what we do have is good”, Frank Short. “Count your blessings” Hilda Short.
Two things my grandparents said often that have stuck with me from my formative years. Are they a tad naive? Do they come from a position of relative privilege? …but I still hold them as essentially well- meaning and genuinely lovingly humble.

Is it worth reminiscing and looking at autumns passed… ?

Maybe.

Listening to Steve Chapman’s intriguing ‘ridiculous {TED} talk about a pointless project’ recently,

I’m reminded the idea that perhaps “We are essentially all hairless apes standing on a ball of rock in the infinite emptiness of space, orbiting a billionyear-old everexpanding nuclear explosion that will one day consume everything we know as real. Seeking meaning in a universe that is utterly disinterested in our quest to make sense of this mysterious thing that we call life”

But that’s what I love. The glimmers of meaning everywhere. Meaningless meaning that we construct stories from.

Not the chaos of noise from our digital meta-worlds, but the scintillations, the glimmers from the everyday, the life in our breath.

Awake.
As Antony De Mello suggested, to “understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. …tragically, [many] never get to see {notice} that ‘all is well”.

I remember reading that our perception of time can speed up when life becomes routine and repetitive, and slow down when you encounter novel or stimulating experiences. As Ezra Bayda said, “What happens when we slow down and pay attention? Everything! Innumerable delights are right at hand.”

Doesn’t help pay the bills, but helps to ground you in the now.

Here’s Audrey from our garden.
Here’s Lincoln Cathedral.
And here’s the dog, wanting to play.

Inspire:  To draw air into the lungs…

Before we go ‘back-to-work’ after a restful? hiatus, let’s pause, and look to inspire. It’s a little thing, but essential… Breath.

The words breath and spirit share a historical connection rooted in the physical reality that breathing defines life. In English, breath comes from Old English brǣþ (odor, scent, or exhalation), while spirit traces back via Old French to the Latin spiritus meaning “breath,” “blowing,” or “courage”, derived from the verb spirare “to breathe”.

Recognising our breath, and the spirit of things.

Let’s inspire.

A few little graphic projects over the summer, aiming to inspire scholars at the start of the new term. Reinforcing values; encouraging, exciting, inspiring… graphic repro(duction)…

Progress, Focus, Team, Better, Proud, Believe, Belong…. #Graphic #Repro

We’ve kitted out the bare changing rooms with some inspiring graphic quotes. And added some engaging wall wraps to the entrances.

We’ve had a world map installed on the walls near our Geography Dept. Remembering Judy Martz notion of course that Geography is everything!

And on another scale, 1500 CMA Planners containing many helpful pages; Maths Number Square, Periodic Table, World Map, CMA Poem, Mood Tracker, Timetable, Calendar, etc. and of course Homework Diary pages.

I believe that providing a graphic repro service to staff and students helps to visualise and reinforce a culture of teamship and belonging.

I did collate a little visual carousel:

Part of my Design & Reprographics role is to create and maintain a strong visual identity that relays the tones and qualities of our community, while promoting our cultural ambitions and expectations.

We create and maintain a consistent design identity and style, echoing graphic devices across all materials, and adding value to material created. As well as bulk reproduction, we create department-specific graphics and resources; signage, certificates, posters, cards, worksheets, passes, stickers, etc.

Graphic Repro and ‘belonging’: identity, community and culture.  

Identity: uniformity in design across materials maintains a professionalism.

Community: consistent, appealing, memorable design fosters trust and credibility.

Culture: visual familiarity can generate a deeper connection and improve teamship.

It’s what I do… ‘Image Creation‘

I found myself writing about noise…

We went away on holiday, an hour inland from the French west coast, and found ourselves near peace, nature, space… for just a few days.
It’s true one man’s heaven is another man’s hell, but it’s also true that heaven can be a place on earth.
Marais Poitevin; a glimpse of a peace, the only sounds, the wind, birds, and goats…
Home-grown tomatoes, French cheese, black pepper, and honey… beer and strawberries.
It’s not polished, it’s not packaged, not in the brochures, just simply there..
We were thankful.

Peace? The absence of noise?
“Well what’s noise?” says the wife “I can hear the wind…”
“Clutter…” I say.
No clutter, to hear just the wind, briefly, the breath, the spirit of the moment… without reserve…
“I thought you were reading your book?” she says…
I can’t. There’s too much peace. Pacifique. I think I read books to distract me from the noise. To give a little shape to the chaos. So, I can’t read right now… it’s too quiet.

However, the silence is accompanied by the ever-present tinnitus. The still waters hide the invasive American crayfish; toppled trees lie as memorials from past storms. And it’s hotter than hell in paradise. I drink another bottle of water after pouring a glug of it over my head.
An orange butterfly flits between the verdant vegetation. An otter breaks the surface and scuttles across the river. A small deer has been standing still as a statue until I see it, and as he realises I’ve seen him, he bounds away. Dragonflies and kingfishers…

‘The noise hides the silence. It does not destroy the silence.‘
Charles de Leusse

The clutterful noise will return, have no doubt. I guess it’s our response to noise that might make the difference.

Three days later we were sat overlooking the sea, pondering the je ne sais quoi of the French joie de vivre. It all just seems a tad more beautiful. The French reply “d’accord” where we might reply “OK”, the local way seems just a little more harmonious. Accord means “agreement”. When used in a musical sense, it means ‘harmony’; chord. I agree, in harmony. Our ‘OK’ seems just to mean ‘OK’.

Taking time away from our noisy habits and routines can highlight different ways of being. We’re grateful for ‘time out’, to notice ‘rests’ and the spaces between the noise.

True peace is just too big to explain; it’s too small a thing to pinpoint and fully grasp.

As is so often the case, we return again to Mr Keats;

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
    Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
    Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone…
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,”—that is all
        Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Bruit
‘Le bruit cache le silence. – Il ne détruit le silence.’
Charles de Leusse
‘The noise hides the silence. It does not destroy the silence. ‘


Très bon café
Un jour parfait.

************************************
On another note, some noise:

To cut a long story short;
We have had a great time in France; countryside, coast and city. But halfway through, the car broke down. Taken away by breakdown service. Over two days in the planned hotel, we are told by the ‘Breakdown Agent’ that the car will not be fixed by the time we planned to return on the ferry. Hire car provided. But still, no, the car will not be fixed in time. Anxious few days, discussions with ‘breakdown agent’ about leaving car in France, repatriation(?), returning by train to collect car at a later date! LOL! Taxi to Caen and foot passenger with significant luggage on ferry, train from Portsmouth to Leicester… brain was in clutterville! To say the least.
Up steps one of the nicest blokes I’ve had the pleasure to meet. A French friend that we know lived nearby. I phoned him. “Ne vous inquiétez pas!” he assures us we’ll sort it. Somehow?
The breakdown agent still repeatedly says the car will be fixed in 8 days; we travel back in 3 days. In short, we travel to the car at the garage with our friend to empty it for a taxi return home. Our friend has a 15-minute mediation to explain the complications of the 8-day delay. They say we’ll see what they can do, but can’t promise anything. On the day of our planned return, we plan to sleep over at friends, rebook a new ferry, etc, hoping that 8 days become 3…
Friend calls the garage. Against all expectations and odds, they have fixed the car.
Oh la la!!!. We drive to Caen!
We can’t thank our friend enough for the calm, friendly, beautiful way he helped us in our time of need. Belle humanité!
That’s the short version!

I’ve said before, it’s not all about the performance…

It’s about the act of singing, together.

This Sunday morning I had an opportunity to talk about Global Harmony Choir on a local radio station 103 The Eye in Melton Mowbray.

Sincere thanks to Steve, Patrick. and Christine, at 103 The Eye radio. You can listen to my attempt at summarising the joys of the choir here:

Radio Interview on 103 The Eye Melton, with Steve Kent

And if you’re free, Global Harmony, has a concert, this Friday 26th June in Melton!

But, it’s not all about the performance; it’s about the act of singing together. The whole thing’s bigger than the sum of its parts. Singing with these fine folk is a privilege.

Global Harmony choir sings a dynamic variety of world music in a fun, friendly, informal environment; songs that celebrate diverse cultures and the joy of singing. Exciting rhythms of Africa, stirring Eastern European harmonies, songs from around the world. More here: www.globalharmony.org.uk

So my tyres have given up after ~10,000 miles! That’s a tad over their expected ~5000 miles estimate. But take a look, I have ridden them to the limit!

The Schwalbe Road Cruiser Plus lists as “a highly durable, eco-friendly commuter and hybrid tyre”

• Green Compound, uses renewable and recycled raw materials without compromising on quality
• Puncture Protection: Features a 3 mm thick TwinSkin: An additional rubber coating on the sidewalls to protect against unsightly cuts.
• They are lighter, and cheaper, than the top of the range Marathon Plus.

These tyres have lasted me 3.3years – that’s almost 10,000 miles.

New shoes…

I ride 75 miles a week. 41 weeks/year, that’s ~3000miles/year. My cycle.

It’s worth mentioning that for the last few years, I have used Tannus Armour inside my tyres. They have served me very well. Only one puncture in 2 years, from an award-winning shard of glass. The Armour will be refitted inside my new tyres.

Read about my past experience here Tannus 

So new shoes for the bike. Onwards!

Simple idea found here: Butterfly Business Card

A little engaging tactile thought reinforcement for our Intervention Hub Scholars:

I’ve said it before; ReproGraphics

Repro; copying and reproduction of documents and printed material.

Graphics; creating imagery and visual material to communicate significance. 

It’s more than just repro…