O Tannenbaum

O Tannenbaum!

Strolling back through Petersham with our tree upon my head;

Soon to be so bright-bedecked in gold and green and red.

The passers-by smiling at me, my head all bobbing bough,

And when I reach my garden gate, the green has stained my brow.

The net is snipped, a branch is clipped, the tree in water stood;

A sawn-off chunk of sappy trunk, such sweetly smelling wood;

And there in early gathering dark, it drinks and takes its shape.

Few days to wait to meet its fate in baubles, bells and crepe.

And when at last it's dragged inside and on its table stood

We'll decorate and water it and and light it up and down,

We'll care for it, adorn it from its base up to its crown

But that won't be enough to stem the dying of the wood.

The sacrifice is worthy made, forever has been fêted:

The year ends in glorious Yule and to the new is mated

Or can portend that simpler tree which with Christ's blood was sated.

Choose what you choose, none can lose: it must be celebrated!

Here in the north, it's dark and cold before it's even late

Who needs much cause or ancient lore or even a fixed date?

Beginnings and ends are a time for friends and gathering in the warm:

Eat up and sup and have a slice! Come, shelter from the storm!

In Memoriam Dr Seuss b. 2nd March 1904 d. 24th Sept 1991

It's Doctor Seuss's birthday
I hear the Google sing.
And when we hear the Google say
"Dr Seuss, Hip Hop Hooray
Today's the day which is your day"
It's not the time to run away
But come and bring your fluffy Thyng
That hides in cupboards and goes "PING!"
And join us all in that vase called Ming
Along with a fish by the name of Ling
And all together we'll loudly sing:

"Happy Birthday (not Yule)!
All your writing's so cool!
Happy Birthday, dear Doctor.
All your rhymes really rule!"

And when your caky day is done
And you've admired the setting sun
We'll let the Google close that box
We know contains a Fox in Socks.
The Tweetle Beetles and their kin
Happily repose therein.
A Cat sleeps comfortable and fat
Clutching his misshapen Hat.
And while we quietly take our leave
We find we smile and cannot grieve;
Because you taught us how to read.

Relaxation therapy

June
Baltic coast, Sweden
And....... relaaaaaaaaaaax: hHAAAAHHHhhhh....

A goat. And why not?

In memory of Bella Lugoati (My ex Mother-in-law's hilarious omnivorous pedigree Toggenburg goat)

Now what was that about a goat?
A beast with such notorious throat
That with a shake, a twist and gulp
It can turn the world to pulp
And swallow down the moon as well
Quite careless of the tidal swell.

A goat's the one that stole the rose
The bud, the stem, the garden hose.
Quite regardless of the risk
It takes on salty tamarisk
It laughs at spikes and burrs and thorns
It scoffs 'em all and shakes its horns

The thistle tempts it with its spines
But best of all are washing lines
For there is hanging, treat of treats
Your silk shirt and your clean sheets
With tinkling bell and merry caper
All that's left looks like wastepaper

Beware the goat and all its charm
It will soon tug off your arm
And, friendly-like, while stunned you stand
It will steal your other hand
And then with all affection showing
While your back is turned, unknowing
It will butt you in the bum
And laugh again, while you succumb

By way of contrast: a few quite new haiku for you

On making a new net and the seasonal joy that is hay fever, Feb 2009:

Spring sunshine garden
For the pond heron netting
Hazel pollen eyes


On being kept awake by townified wildlife in territorial spring mood, Feb 2009:

Midnight screaming fox
And back alley badger fights
Welcoming Spring dark


On shooting The "King's Walk" (a Bersault round) at the Royal Richmond Archery Club, Feb 2009

Early Spring light fading fast
An end: Just one arrow
Win or not the archery


On Sabina having a Manga stand at the Japan Festival in Richmond, Feb 2009: (reversed meter 7-5-7)

Black is blood and tears streaming
Manga dark magic
Cherry blossom monochrome

Spending our way out of the crisis

Strong objections have been raised by conservatives (eg Republicans in the US and Tories in the UK) about trying to "spend our way out" of the financial crisis by investing in huge programmes of public spending. They cite similar initiatives instigated in the 1920s to mitigate the Great Depression and point out that a prodigious increase in National Debt was the outcome. They worry that Obama and Brown, inter alia, are plunging headlong down the same route, not having learned from history, and that it is preferable for Governments to allow the Market to arrive at its own adjustment in its own time and that things would gradually return to normal. No doubt they would, eventually. However, I believe that there are some debatable points around this view:

1. Is what was, until so recently, "normal" or "business as usual" either desirable or sufficient for the future?
It is increasingly being realised that the pursuit of individual growth at the expense of others is unsustainable, both economically and ecologically. The past century has belonged to big business and big finance, to big government, and big oil.
The one truly vital legacy this "big" century bequeaths us is our newly "small" world: The communications systems which now tie humanity together - the www, mobile 'phones, world news coverage and, yes, global financial systems. The ironic lesson of globalisation is that a problem in one part of the world is now inevitably a problem for all of the world, be it bird 'flu, a little local difficulty in Gaza or financial meltdown. This dawning realisation cannot have been lost on most of us, surely?

Such a lesson cannot have been more timely, considering the truly staggering threats we and our children face from climate change unless we make some truly radical changes to the way we live and behave. The worry here is that, though the state of the planet is viewed with great concern, even alarm, in mainstream scientific circles, this concern appears to be reaching political and public circles much too slowly. It has to be said that the years of denial by the Bush administration in the USA have been an important factor in this. It is always easy to deny bad news and to shoot the messengers until the messengers are too many and the bad news is too evident to ignore.

2. Given that financial systems, of any kind, depend fundamentally on trust and the confidence such trust engenders, does it not behove us to create a climate of positive thinking?
Lifting the morale of the people is the single most important thing that can be done. Initiating public works which capture the imagination and foster a spirit of communal striving are a vital tool in doing this. Just make sure you are spending our money and our sweat on the right initiatives: Any doubt on that score and the money will be wasted and no morale boost will have been achieved. Political and financial mayhem will rage unabated. But get it right and you succeed in bringing in vastly needed change and of bringing the people behind you on that new path. Most of the people, most of the way.

3. Do we not need to balance the concept of absolute individual freedom with practices which guarantee the chance of freedom and sufficiency for all?
Whilst I am inclined to be a libertarian and I am an admirer of the natural world and of the balances of nature; and whilst I would concede that the planet itself will, in time, reach a new state of balance; as it has done throughout its long history, the vastness of which has passed without us; this instinct towards laissez faire is radically moderated by my humanity and my genetic investment in my children and, I hope, my children's children. I therefore view mankind not just as an ape in nature, but as an ape who is a gardener. An ape who MUST be a gardener. A species whose very survival depends on a sense of duty to intelligent husbandry. It is NOT enough to "let nature take its course". Nature's course may not, probably would not, include us.

In conclusion then, unlike many respected elders, I commend the ray of hope that is the Obama Presidency. This man has the stature, the strength and, what's more, the mandate to challenge the past. He has undoubtedly and, unusually in these times, the oratory to be able to get the mass of the people behind him. He appears to have a grasp of scientific principles and rational thought, in marked contrast to the previous administration, and to be prepared to act on them. He has grasped that diversified energy production and the replacement of Big Oil is the greatest challenge facing not only the US and the developed world, but the whole of humanity. He has made and will make many powerful enemies. Let us hope that no-one manages to kill him before he manages to get the juggernaut moving in the direction of the radical, and undoubtedly painful, "change" on which he was so convincingly elected.

Meanwhile, at our own individual and small levels, I think we must all make our own contributions to getting through this very difficult and indefinite period, not just by changing our lightbulbs and squashing down our plastic bottles but by engaging with each other.

There is no time like a crisis for forging a renewed sense of community and common purpose. Show trust, rather that the cynicism which is pushed at us. Think first but do take risks. Take responsibility: Apologise when you get it wrong; but feel a sense of achievement when you get it right. Don't let legal technicalities obscure the spirit of the law: It may be legal, but is it sensible or honourable? It may be illegal, but is it the right thing to do anyway?

Carpe diem! This great crisis may be our only chance to change enough and to change in time.

Accepting the self indulgence

Starting this blog is pure self-indulgence: Who else cares?

After all, if anyone cares enough to read it and even to post responses, this will only please, horrify or otherwise affect me myself; unless a fruitful discussion gets going between posters, that is.

Here's hoping!

The entries made may be on entirely random subjects as my interests are very diverse: I know a little about a lot. In other words, I know enough to know that I know very little about anything. The joy is in the thinking, the exploration, the learning.

Clashes of opinion are stimulating and welcome; with the presupposition that my own opinion will, in the end, prevail. How could it be otherwise? Either I was right all along, or you will have convinced me to alter my position and therefore my opinion: A little arrogance. A little flexibility. A great deal of good humour and an appreciation of absurdity. So we go forward.

There will be snippets and questions, opinions and rants, rhymes both trivial and impenetrable, science and thinking, enjoyment of the richness of language and a measure of pedantic mumbling.

There will also be great gaps of nowt.

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Welcome!