3rd August 2008

This week...

• Received first copies of Never Die Alone, the book published by JSRI in Japan in which I have a part together with five other authors discussing the Buddhist approach to death and dying. This book is the outcome of a series of day seminars held by JSRI in Tokyo over the past year and is my latest publication.


• Wrote a number of poems. The Poetry Circle on Facebook reached more than 380 members.


• Renovations: Improved my skills in pointing stonework and learned how to use lime effectively on the walls of these old buildings here in rural France. We have started work on a further stage of conversion of our ecurie building, liming the inside walls and putting in a window where there was formerly a doorway that had been filled in with stone walling. Picture


• Read The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald and wrote a review of it.


• Visited Troncais Forest more than once. It is a beautiful oak forest with a wonderful atmosphere amidst the great mature trees.


• Enjoyed several interesting weather phenomena: fine sunsets, a thunderstorm and one evening a mini-cyclone passed over us as we strolled on the shore of Lake Pirot in the declining light. The sky was full of different kinds of cloud that thickened in a band extending away to the West. Then we noticed that some of the closer cloud was moving in the opposite direction to that further away and then we realised that the cloud coming upon us actually formed a large whirlpool filling half the visible sky. As it approached the wind got up and roared through the treetops. In a matter of less than an hour the whole system passed over us leaving intriguing patterns of disturbance on the lake surface glittering in the final light of the by then set sun.


• Have had serious computer virus problems with a regiment of Trojan horses messing up my e-mail client program, a problem that was exacerbated by my machine over-heating in the hot weather. Fortunately Kaspa came to the rescue and found the necessary download to drive away the enemy, but not before a good deal of damage had been done necessitating me revamping my e-mail storage system.


• Land work: Shredded much forest cuttings and mulched some of our fruit trees. Also pruned the trees extensively. They have been badly neglected in recent years as we have had other priorities.


• Hospitality: Received a lovely family of visitors from Netherlands. Great fun having the children around the place.
  
• Went to the Festival des Troubadours et Saltimbanques de Souvigny, which is the largest of the many Medieval fairs in this area of France. It is a kind of grand street theatre-cum-street market. Very enjoyable.


• While in Souvigny attended a performance by the truly remarkable singer Luc Arbogast who has a voice with a remarkable range and accompanies himself on a variety of medieval stringed instruments and also organ. I wrote a review of him. There are several films on You Tube of him performing at different Medieval festivals, but nothing compares with being there in person. I was more strongly affected than by any musical performance I can remember in recent time. Truly outstanding.