Dear Maddie (and Mitko)!
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They held on didn’t they, hoping against hope that they could do it and hold a socially distanced festival. !
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Very annoyed with your flights cancelled and no refund. Who were you flying with? Could you negotiate an exchange with a ticket for next year roughly same time to same festival, there by holding up some future hope. I’m thinking the airlines will be grateful for business, post this pandemic, as I think that people will change their journeying habits and it may take a while for the desire global travel to take off once again, as what’s in front of our nose, having been observed, may suffice to satiate pleasure/happiness. !
How disappointing too to loose the right to have a public defence of your dissertation.What was the subject out of interest? Does that mean you will get your PhD? Grim is such a good word, once again, I’m very impressed with your language. !
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Ah so you are sending the men out to shop, to dilute their stir craziness. Yes, you are right it is good that neither of us is alone. Moving in with Michael has been good for both Michael and I. Spring springing, and the moon and planets (Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in alighment now, and full moon recently) outside, and the dogs (2 border collies) remind us that there is definitely life outside of this extraordinary virus. !
Very early on, someone reminded us that in the Chinese language, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other, opportunity. This view stays with me. !
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Yes, loved ones will die. I may die. Health workers will work far too long hours. Uncertainty will dominate. Stock markets may crash, pensions may sink. However, the fish have returned to the Venice water systems, carbon emissions fell by 25% in China. The English have stopped bitching about Brexit. We are being less frivolous about decision making. We are realising how interconnected we all are, amid this invisible enemy, talking to each other (2 meters apart) eye contact, exchanging, taking meals to lock down people. We are digging our own gardens. We are seeing what has been in front of our own noses but we have been far too busy driving to the greener grass the other side of the fence. !
Michael lives in a lovely home, with beautiful garden tended by his wife Tamsyn, where I have found 4 ‘fit for purpose’ raised beds, which i’ve prepared and planted out with seeds. (I imagine England is gong to be one glorious and edible garden at the end of this time – there was not a seed potato to buy in the whole of our town!). There is such a primal joy in watching the green shoots emerge from the soil. !
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One of many aspects of this sudden paradigm shift has been the bringing together of all the world, hearing how each nation copes, feeling the common denominator of the human condition, in both pain (New York stories from hospitals ill equipped, people, in particular a 13 year child dieing alone, and joy (the Italians singing on the balconies, the Spanish clapping every night). We are watching Al Jezeera news each night after our own domestic news, which gives an un English centric view. !
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Is it going to change, is it going to rock the capitalise, vastly unequal society we have developed, our individualistic un co-operative system of profit for today and tomorrow, who cares about climate change, not my problem. Stephen Pinker, (who we saw at Hay last year, – i\ve been a fan of his for many years) says, while he acknowledges the positive effects of world lockdown, says regarding lasting paradigm shift: unlikely, we have short memories. What do you think? !
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Tomorrow, Anna (English, was at Springe) is going to do an experimental Socratic Dialogue for an hour and a half over Zoom. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes. Perhaps we could do one at another time? I had planned 2 weekends of facilitating Socratic Dialogue (to practice) in my woods, but both had to be cancelled. Are you up to speed with Zoom? Shall we zoom – we could zoom over a gin and tonic, it does not have to be Socratic!!
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Forest school was naturally cancelled, so yesterday I made a video for the kids which I’ll share here with you. It’s 15 minutes. It takes you around my 5 acre wood where we have forest school twice a week. I hate seeing my rounded shoulders, and hearing my voice, inclined to sound bossy (follow me)! But you will see the wood!
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Another link for you – my trip through Bulgaria, with the Roger Waters fake ticket you may enjoy. ! https://kalikellett.tumblr.com/post/75032798654/07-bulgaria-an-unexpected-traverse- edicts-and!
Finally I’m going to talk table tennis. Michael acutally has a table tennis table. It’s in some cupboard. Once we’ve cleared a room (called the Stable as it was an old stable) we will get the table out, and before we play our first game, we will toast your health.!
(How’s the no smoking by the way?) !
Enough – time to send this email off!
Rachel!
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Kalikellett 