Colonies Covid Chronicle 9: rainbow cars

A View from My Window ~ Pat Bryden

As the weeks have passed

we have noticed the birds,

heard the silence, seen the fox,

the heron, the frog,

and breathed a cleaner air.

And now, I see St Francis,

birds and flowers around him,

in the view from my window,

by the door across the road.

He seems to be asking

‘What next? Will we cherish still

our air, our soil, the creatures

chirping, pecking, slinking,

and keep the song in that clean air?

Can we make the sacrifice

of luxury to share

the wealth belonging

to us all?’

 

(In Grayson Perry’s Art Club programme this week the theme

was ‘A View from Your Window’.)

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Week 8: Monday 18th May Ramblings: am I losing the plot? ~ Hilery Williams

I’ve instructed myself not to rant. After all, we’re still staying at home so we don’t kill oor grannies (Nicola or Janey? What isTruth?)

The family chat is as welcome as it is frustrating: three in London, two in the Philippines. We talk about how unsafe both places are. The news shows the park near our wee one’s school full of folk, disrespecting safety. She will not return in June even if her friends do. Manila Police reportedly can shoot people without permission to be out. I am assured they are coping with home schooling/working. We all wish we could hug each other.

Disaster: I ran out of wool just as Cromwell went into the Tower. Yes, of course I know his end but Hilary Mantel’s writing is so magnificent I needed to hear it all. I read along while listening.

Phew!

Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet next – and a new jumper.

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Rainbow cars ~ Catherine and Anna

Bell Place lower wins the Rainbow Award for having the greatest number of rainbow colours among its cars. We spotted red, orange, yellow, blue and indigo(ish) when we passed the other day!

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Hair ~ Diana

Ever since my sister (a hairdresser) snipped off my plaits some sixty-plus years ago, my hair has been short and curly.

What to do with it now, as it blossoms out all over the place, thin and, well, frizzy?

No, I am not giving the scissors to my partner.

As for myself, I can hardly cut a slice of bread straight, so I hesitate and hesitate …

Some days I think it will be interesting to see myself, after such a very long time, with very long hair.

Some days I think I could attempt a slightly erratic and zany hair cut. An odd look that looks deliberate.

Advice very welcome.

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The Tragic Law of Technocratic Society ~ Alastair Hulbert

Whatever progress there is in the micro-social order represents a regression in the macro-social order… Once we have broken the natural rhythms, balance – indeed justice – towards nature is no longer possible.’ This is Raimon Panikkar’s Tragic Law of Technocratic Society.

Take the motor car for example which in its early years was a great step forward in micro-social terms, offering individuals freedom of movement, transport, recreation. Until a limit was reached and passed.On the macro-social level there are far too many cars, with all the negative effects that that implies for mobility, nature and the environment.

The same applies in practically every area of industrial technology –aeroplanes, plastics, pest control, fishing nets. . .  And it explains what has brought on the coronavirus pandemic.

Technology is an effort at subduing nature, and modernity aspires to make everything artificial, including intelligence, precisely in order to escape the natural rhythms of life.

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Covid – silver linings? ~ Dave Powell

Sometimes a crisis can be a catalyst for positive change. Two examples struck me this week.

It is widely reported that the air quality in many cities around the world has improved as fewer drivers take to the road. Now there are plans that large areas of central London are to become vehicle free to allow more space for pedestrians and cyclists. Had this been proposed in normal times it would have been strangled by years of procrastination.  Can we find the courage to make it permanent?

The House of Commons has started to become a forum for civilised debate rather than a forum for bluster, obfuscation and the exchange of insults. The normal cacophony of noise has been silenced. The approach is more like that of other enlightened legislatures such as those at Holyrood and in many other European democracies. Can we hope that this will prevail or will the braying return when the schoolboys (yes the miscreants are mostly men) return?