December 6th
Got back yesterday from a weekend in Cambridge. Primarily we were there for Vidyasiddhi's funeral yesterday. Our return to Cambridge was the first since we left over five years ago. A lot has happened, both here and there, in those intervening years. Our reluctance to return has previously been limited by the time available, a view that the journey getting there was long and an apprehension around the returning itself.
The drive down was smoother than we expected, and could be easily be done in a day if we wished. So that hurdle has now been leaped over. Returning anywhere you've lived for a significant amount of time, is frequently accompanied by tension. Even if your memories are, as ours are, largely good ones. Cambridge physically has not changed that radically. We wandered around noting familiar landmarks, shops, the minor subtle changes. The general vibe though has altered, it's rougher, edgier, grubbier and poorer. Admittedly we were visiting in the winter, in what was a very cold, wet and windy weekend. No one looks more bedraggled than in such bleak weather conditions
It now has rather ugly looking motorised scooters littering the street corners. Gangs of cyclists and motor cyclists from Deliveroo and Just Eat behave like they're at war on the narrow medieval streets. It has developed a more urban and unpleasant vibe. Lidl and Aldi supermarkets now rub shoulders within a few hundred yards of each other, near the city centre. And whilst Cambridge has always punched way over its size with the types of shops and facilities it can offer, these feel more conspicuously vulgar and showy. Physically it hasn't changed much, but its more the way it is now occupied, with a harder, hostile and less relaxed air. The gap between town and gown has not felt wider.
This impression is no doubt partly affected by our having lived by the coast and its more easy relaxed emotional context. We go to Norwich about twice a year for but a few hours. Spending time in any urban context is better if its a brief one. Dip in and then dip out. Two days in Cambridge, was our longest time spent in a city for many a year.
We both moved to Cambridge originally to be part of the well developed Buddhist culture there and to work for Windhorse:evolution. The latter no longer exists and there has been a consequent and drawn out diaspora of people involved, of which were two. Also, I've left Triratna since then. So returning to the Buddhist Centre for the funeral, with all the attendant anxieties and apprehensions, felt a bit intimidating. But even that proved to be fine.
Vidyasiddhi's funeral, was very carefully curated by him before his death. Composed of some favourite music and apposite poems with a power to touch one's depths and raw emotional tenderness. I was moved by the appreciative remembrances of his friends and a sense of him in all its diverse forms. The sense of something emotionally stirring through out.
December 8th
As we grow nearer to the Christmas event, the weather uncharacteristically has started to believe its own cliche. Here in the greatest crisis in people's finances for many a year, where being able to afford the cost of energy to warm your own home, is a live issue. The last thing anyone needs is a traditional White Christmas. There isn't enough money in the bank to light a candle let alone an open fire, for some folk.
December 9th
I appear to be coming to the end of the Christmas present buying and posting process. The last thing is cards. To get them off in good time, given postal strikes etc. Our Christmas decorations have been up a few days now, a tad later than is usual. This year the season seems to have become harder to whip up enthusiasm for. Soon though we start planning of Christmas for ourselves.
The first of our midweek Craft Fairs in Holt got cancelled due to the inclement weather forecast. We have another next week as a replacement. The advance forecast appears OK so fingers are crossed. The shop itself is quiet, with the occasional good -great day. Rumours of Christmas trade coming late, have yet to declare there veracity. But Christmas ain't over til its over, and when it is over we will sure know it is. The New Year entering like a rapidly deflating balloon.
December 12th
This year my advent calendar contains a daily selection of teas. One I am really enjoying. So far its introduced me to White Teas and Oolong Teas, both are such subtle, beautifully delicate teas. The range of teas on offer in the calendar is wide, with no repetitions, nor novelty teas made to taste like batten-burg. Each of my mornings up til Christmas will begin with a moment of a delightful beverage..
I, like many people, probably spend more time on the internet than is really good for my well being. And well being is often a focus for it. Lately I've been surfing the net for information about how to treat acid reflux. So my feed is now feeding me all sorts of crack pot cures. About the best way to sleep to eradicate wrinkles overnight, with more than dubious science. Well, no science, actually. But I can't stop myself becoming clickbate. I'm intregued and just have to know. It's helped me realise that I am perimenopausal.
There are American 'doctors', and I invert commas intentionally here, who just love long copious lists of side effects from say eating bananas. That will bring about your imminent demise if you don't desist in consuming them. What they do suggest you eat comes right at the very end, which you will only discover if you can make it through half an hour of indefatigably tortuous detail. The detail is there to convince you they are the genuine article. What precedes it making the solution when it does arrive seem utterly obvious and banal.The solution to acid reflux by the way is always, to stop eating so much fatty sweet crap. Ah, neurosis thy name is Stephen.
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