No on-topic Edges & Entries today—no official Underworld post, at least (you can, however, present an argument for this being either a prologue for a to-come-at-some-point season of posts on Streams and Rivers or, perhaps, an epilogue to my recent Coastlines
Beautiful, Alexander. I admire your demonstration of the way our senses can tell us so much - smell (the poop) and hearing (the birds), as well as sight (the otter). Soft skills, soft presence, meeting nature on her own terms -- it's all so appealing, and so healing. Every encounter carries gifts.
Regarding language, I wanted to share this verse that I first heard from Bill Plotkin at an Animus Valley Institute retreat. It's from Nalungiaq, an Inuit woman interviewed by ethnologist Knud Rasmussen in the early twentieth century.
In the very earliest time
When both people and animals lived on earth
A person could become an animal if he wanted to
and an animal could become a human being.
Sometimes they were people
and sometimes animals
and there was no difference.
All spoke the same language
That was the time when words were like magic.
The human mind had mysterious powers.
A word spoken by chance might have strange consequences.
This is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that. We recently watched the last season of Borgen, which mentioned Radmussen a lot, but I had yet to read any of his collected ethnography.
And you are so right, every encounter truly carries gifts. This is something I try very hard to share and demonstrate with others, but not everyone is instantly open to the idea. Not that that will stop me from sharing the idea!
Julie that’s a beautiful poem - may I save it to use in yet another unfinished post I have on the language of nature, I would of course mention you and it’s source?
I, too, collect these unfinished posts! Perhaps, one day, I'll have all those essays finished and have no idea what to write (hahahaha, as if that could ever happen!).
Thank you for sharing Scribbles and Sketches (and Splendid Trees)! I'm thoroughly enjoying this month's seasonal notebook. It's funny how some of the entries just keep growing legs - despite having brief notes and a plan(ish) for each day, it sometimes surprises me how little the writing itself pays heed to any of my intentions!
I love Ho Chi Minh! The food in particular, but also the energy. However, this time, we only passed through on the way to Bangkok and onwards to Chiang Mai--I forgot how ridiculously expensive everything is at the airport though, crazy! It's also very interesting, how people assume white people are all Americans then, when Scotland (or Europe) gets mentioned, they are less sell sell sell and more interested, which I like.
Nationality is really interesting when travelling. A friend and I went inter-railing in 1985 just a couple of months after the Heysel stadium tragedy. The assumption was we were English and we were met with a lot of hostility when we first arrived in Italy. However, the second we said we were Scottish and mentioned living near Aberdeen, everything changed; the atmosphere lifted, there were smiles and we were made to feel welcome.
It is such an interesting topic! And I am really not surprised with what you share here; wherever I go, there seems a genuine love for Scotland and those who hail from her shores! I'm actually trying to put together a rather complicated pitch on this, along with working in the upcoming election, Brexit, independence, etcetera.
(Interestingly, I was up in the mountains with some Lahu friends a week ago and even they knew of Scotland. I liked that. Come to think of it, the rain and mist up in those hills was a bit familiar!!)
One of our guides in The Gambia knew of Ross County FC! I was explaining where I lived and he mentioned them. The international language of football, lol. He was incredibly unimpressed that I didn’t know the names of any players from any team 😂😂
Haha! I love that! Football is definitely an international language! I used to follow it when I was young, then just stopped. Now, I nod and smile when others try to engage me, before telling them I’m more into rugby! Seems to do the trick.
I feel that difficulty of description to others you have Alex, whilst on a day to day, work, necessities and general basis my French is pretty good now, trying to explain anything that constitutes a more profound subject, like why we write, what we write about and why, the nuance of the language escapes me.., I improve, probably daily though I don’t notice it but I do get terribly frustrated - bravo you for persevering!
Another lovely post, our senses are our most important asset in nature!
I’m green with envy that you’ve once again found otters, although a mink would have been quite exciting too, we are limited to pine martens here, I say limited, they are pretty abundant and I’ve lost many chickens to them but they are exquisite creatures to watch and of course don’t smell quite so terrible!
Have a fabulous holiday my friend… please don’t worry about replying, just enjoy!
I have yet to find a good distribution map of otters in France, but I do wonder how widespread they are, the waterways are usually cleaner than in England, for example certainly, from what I've read, post-Brexit.
I am sure your French is a lot, lot better than mine! That hidden improvement is an interesting thing, the way it can creep up on you. I know I have a long way to go yet, however, but hoping that Ailsa will help correct me too!!
Thank you for this comment, I hope all is well over there? The time here has disappeared somehow, and precious little of it in reading or writing. Still, it's all good fuel for the brain and soul, I suppose. And stomach, that too!!
I hope, above all you are enjoying your time away Alex, I can’t quite believe your holidays is nearly over either… goodness that was fast! Enjoy the last days…
While I’m here, I’m frantically trying to finish my next AP post for this evening (mid-summer already… not that you’d notice with the weather refusing to catchup with the seasons) the week has held one obstacle after another, the worst being a virus that refused to budge for five days… plus my daughter moving apartment and end of term dossiers to complete, I’m struggling! I’m finally feeling better and working every second possible on editing, it’s just a matter of crossing fingers!
Anyway, all that to say, I may be a day late but I’m hoping not!
I’ll email you the post when it’s ready.
Obviously you don’t need to post immediately, especially as you’ve so few days left with your family… whenever you feel is good for you is good for me too…!
I hope you are healed now, at least? I'm awaiting some sort of post-flight illness, so many people seemed to be coughing and sneezing...
I really appreciate you sharing your walk, and I'm so sorry I wasn't able to share it on the right day. Today, however!
Our time in Thailand disappeared ridiculously quickly. Ailsa enjoyed it, and I think it was really good for her English development, too. Having said that, her French has also come on in leaps and bounds, and I am struggling to keep up with all she chatters about. She loved meeting a pair of old Grandma rescue elephants, feeding them bananas, but she was less pleased by all the insects!
It is supposed to be 32°c here today, which is actually 2°c warmer than Chiang Mai! I've also seen far more mosquitoes here than I remember, probably due to all that rain and humidity.
Thanks again for sharing your walk, I am truly grateful to be able to share your work in this fashion, it really makes me happy.
Hi Alex, it’s good to hear you back home safely and that your trip was a success, despite the insects! I truly hope you haven’t caught anything on the plane home, I know it’s often the case. Here we have a resurgence of whooping cough which is rather worrying, two girls in the class I take have been off for two weeks and at the weekend whilst moving Rosie to her new apartment one of the helpers, has just had a positive test back. I’ve everything crossed that none of us picked up this nasty virus but only time will tell, the incubation can be long apparently…
No worries about sharing my last post late, with a bit of luck it might boost my viewing stats which have dropped just recently, I’m hoping it’s largely down to lack of interaction in Notes but… I simply haven’t had the time!
Just I et a week to go and I can hopefully pay more attention to things I enjoy rather than the necessities - I’m exhausted, as is often the case at the end of the school year!
I’ll share your/our post later this evening… I have urgent calls to make and strumming to do before the weather turns again - summer isn’t playing fair at all here this year!
Eugh! Whooping cough is indeed worrying, that’s not good.
I’m not surprised you are exhausted, roll on the summer holidays and, hopefully, some actual summer for you!
I think Notes, and not posting there often (me neither!), will probably impact the stats, but I also think that this time of year is always a quiet time, as people spend more of the day away from their phones and, hopefully, out in nature. I suspect things will pick up again later (I’ve not actually looked at my stats, other than on the homepage, but my subscribers have certainly dropped off of late.)
Every teacher I’ve spoken to today has said the same thing…, “une semaine… c’est tout, on y arrivera!” We are all exhausted Alex… it has been a very long 13 week pull through though…!
I agree with you about Notes, I’m hoping to make a little more impact starting this time next week! 🤞🏽
Have a fantastic weekend. I hope you’re over the jet lag and that you don’t have the violent storms forecast that we do… looks like it could get very wild here tomorrow afternoon!
You’ve cheered me up today with your words. I was listening to a programme on Radio 4 last night about gene therapy for visual impairment, where a girl spoke movingly about the miraculous improvement she’s experienced in her peripheral vision.
Your writing reminded me that watching nature is mostly done like that, at the periphery and the limits of our awareness. We might glimpse an otter, a porpoise or a dolphin breaking the surface, by accident and as you say, in nature’s time.
Poetry really is like that, yes! It can sneak up on us, or appear when least expected, too. For me, watching nature is also about watching time, looking back through all those signs and traces, but also looking forward, working out where would be best to be rewarded with a view, with an encounter. In my experience, having a home patch that you regularly walk (or sit, I'm a big fan of just being out in nature, sitting quietly and letting it come to you), can really lead to many wonderful experiences. Once you are familiar with your local wildlife, recognising their appearance in other places is almost subliminal, a language which you carry with you wherever you go. Bird alarm calls are such an example. Here, currently in Thailand, I can recognise a few alarm calls, but the specifics are still lost on me--I do know something the birds consider dangerous is near, however, and that can be useful.
The European mink is quite different to its North American cousin--I've seen several of the latter, in England and Scotland but never one of the former (their range is much reduced and the UK is not a part of it). I think the main issue with the escapees (whether deliberately released by well-meaning but also idiotic anti-fur farm protesters, or accidentally because they're so good at escaping) is that they evolved in place where nature provides a constant freezer for much of the year--they kill far more than they can eat, not through wanting to waste it, but because they know they can go back and eat it later. Only, in the UK, they can't. The European mink doesn't do this, it is more like an otter or stoat in that aspect, as far as I know. I did read recently that the spread and rise in otter numbers in the UK has meant the damage by the mink has lessened in some areas, much like the spread and rise in pine martens is terrorising the grey squirrel. Nature usually has a way to deal with things, if only we let her!
Thanks again for this comment, I really love what you say about poetry and the peripheral.
Beautiful, Alexander. I admire your demonstration of the way our senses can tell us so much - smell (the poop) and hearing (the birds), as well as sight (the otter). Soft skills, soft presence, meeting nature on her own terms -- it's all so appealing, and so healing. Every encounter carries gifts.
Regarding language, I wanted to share this verse that I first heard from Bill Plotkin at an Animus Valley Institute retreat. It's from Nalungiaq, an Inuit woman interviewed by ethnologist Knud Rasmussen in the early twentieth century.
In the very earliest time
When both people and animals lived on earth
A person could become an animal if he wanted to
and an animal could become a human being.
Sometimes they were people
and sometimes animals
and there was no difference.
All spoke the same language
That was the time when words were like magic.
The human mind had mysterious powers.
A word spoken by chance might have strange consequences.
It would suddenly come alive
and what people wanted to happen could happen--
all you had to do was say it.
Nobody could explain this:
That's the way it was.
This is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that. We recently watched the last season of Borgen, which mentioned Radmussen a lot, but I had yet to read any of his collected ethnography.
And you are so right, every encounter truly carries gifts. This is something I try very hard to share and demonstrate with others, but not everyone is instantly open to the idea. Not that that will stop me from sharing the idea!
Thanks again.
Ooooo! Borgen! Need to get back to that. I don’t recall Rasmussen being mentioned, which must mean I haven’t seen the last season. 🤩
It was after a long break in time, so possibly not! Much of the plot revolved around Greenland and oil. Definitely worth a peek!
Julie that’s a beautiful poem - may I save it to use in yet another unfinished post I have on the language of nature, I would of course mention you and it’s source?
I, too, collect these unfinished posts! Perhaps, one day, I'll have all those essays finished and have no idea what to write (hahahaha, as if that could ever happen!).
Isn't it amazing? It's not even a poem; it's collected ethnography from the nineteen-teens. You can find more about it on this site: https://www.globalonenessproject.org/library/essays/lessons-old-language
This is a great page, thank you!
Thank you for sharing Scribbles and Sketches (and Splendid Trees)! I'm thoroughly enjoying this month's seasonal notebook. It's funny how some of the entries just keep growing legs - despite having brief notes and a plan(ish) for each day, it sometimes surprises me how little the writing itself pays heed to any of my intentions!
It can be surprising, how certain works run away and do their own thing! I've got a bit of catching up to do, but I'm very much looking forward to it.
What a fabulous encounter! Enjoy the chaos that is Ho Chi Minh!
I love Ho Chi Minh! The food in particular, but also the energy. However, this time, we only passed through on the way to Bangkok and onwards to Chiang Mai--I forgot how ridiculously expensive everything is at the airport though, crazy! It's also very interesting, how people assume white people are all Americans then, when Scotland (or Europe) gets mentioned, they are less sell sell sell and more interested, which I like.
Nationality is really interesting when travelling. A friend and I went inter-railing in 1985 just a couple of months after the Heysel stadium tragedy. The assumption was we were English and we were met with a lot of hostility when we first arrived in Italy. However, the second we said we were Scottish and mentioned living near Aberdeen, everything changed; the atmosphere lifted, there were smiles and we were made to feel welcome.
It is such an interesting topic! And I am really not surprised with what you share here; wherever I go, there seems a genuine love for Scotland and those who hail from her shores! I'm actually trying to put together a rather complicated pitch on this, along with working in the upcoming election, Brexit, independence, etcetera.
(Interestingly, I was up in the mountains with some Lahu friends a week ago and even they knew of Scotland. I liked that. Come to think of it, the rain and mist up in those hills was a bit familiar!!)
One of our guides in The Gambia knew of Ross County FC! I was explaining where I lived and he mentioned them. The international language of football, lol. He was incredibly unimpressed that I didn’t know the names of any players from any team 😂😂
Haha! I love that! Football is definitely an international language! I used to follow it when I was young, then just stopped. Now, I nod and smile when others try to engage me, before telling them I’m more into rugby! Seems to do the trick.
I feel that difficulty of description to others you have Alex, whilst on a day to day, work, necessities and general basis my French is pretty good now, trying to explain anything that constitutes a more profound subject, like why we write, what we write about and why, the nuance of the language escapes me.., I improve, probably daily though I don’t notice it but I do get terribly frustrated - bravo you for persevering!
Another lovely post, our senses are our most important asset in nature!
I’m green with envy that you’ve once again found otters, although a mink would have been quite exciting too, we are limited to pine martens here, I say limited, they are pretty abundant and I’ve lost many chickens to them but they are exquisite creatures to watch and of course don’t smell quite so terrible!
Have a fabulous holiday my friend… please don’t worry about replying, just enjoy!
I have yet to find a good distribution map of otters in France, but I do wonder how widespread they are, the waterways are usually cleaner than in England, for example certainly, from what I've read, post-Brexit.
I am sure your French is a lot, lot better than mine! That hidden improvement is an interesting thing, the way it can creep up on you. I know I have a long way to go yet, however, but hoping that Ailsa will help correct me too!!
Thank you for this comment, I hope all is well over there? The time here has disappeared somehow, and precious little of it in reading or writing. Still, it's all good fuel for the brain and soul, I suppose. And stomach, that too!!
I hope, above all you are enjoying your time away Alex, I can’t quite believe your holidays is nearly over either… goodness that was fast! Enjoy the last days…
While I’m here, I’m frantically trying to finish my next AP post for this evening (mid-summer already… not that you’d notice with the weather refusing to catchup with the seasons) the week has held one obstacle after another, the worst being a virus that refused to budge for five days… plus my daughter moving apartment and end of term dossiers to complete, I’m struggling! I’m finally feeling better and working every second possible on editing, it’s just a matter of crossing fingers!
Anyway, all that to say, I may be a day late but I’m hoping not!
I’ll email you the post when it’s ready.
Obviously you don’t need to post immediately, especially as you’ve so few days left with your family… whenever you feel is good for you is good for me too…!
I hope you are healed now, at least? I'm awaiting some sort of post-flight illness, so many people seemed to be coughing and sneezing...
I really appreciate you sharing your walk, and I'm so sorry I wasn't able to share it on the right day. Today, however!
Our time in Thailand disappeared ridiculously quickly. Ailsa enjoyed it, and I think it was really good for her English development, too. Having said that, her French has also come on in leaps and bounds, and I am struggling to keep up with all she chatters about. She loved meeting a pair of old Grandma rescue elephants, feeding them bananas, but she was less pleased by all the insects!
It is supposed to be 32°c here today, which is actually 2°c warmer than Chiang Mai! I've also seen far more mosquitoes here than I remember, probably due to all that rain and humidity.
Thanks again for sharing your walk, I am truly grateful to be able to share your work in this fashion, it really makes me happy.
Hi Alex, it’s good to hear you back home safely and that your trip was a success, despite the insects! I truly hope you haven’t caught anything on the plane home, I know it’s often the case. Here we have a resurgence of whooping cough which is rather worrying, two girls in the class I take have been off for two weeks and at the weekend whilst moving Rosie to her new apartment one of the helpers, has just had a positive test back. I’ve everything crossed that none of us picked up this nasty virus but only time will tell, the incubation can be long apparently…
No worries about sharing my last post late, with a bit of luck it might boost my viewing stats which have dropped just recently, I’m hoping it’s largely down to lack of interaction in Notes but… I simply haven’t had the time!
Just I et a week to go and I can hopefully pay more attention to things I enjoy rather than the necessities - I’m exhausted, as is often the case at the end of the school year!
I’ll share your/our post later this evening… I have urgent calls to make and strumming to do before the weather turns again - summer isn’t playing fair at all here this year!
Eugh! Whooping cough is indeed worrying, that’s not good.
I’m not surprised you are exhausted, roll on the summer holidays and, hopefully, some actual summer for you!
I think Notes, and not posting there often (me neither!), will probably impact the stats, but I also think that this time of year is always a quiet time, as people spend more of the day away from their phones and, hopefully, out in nature. I suspect things will pick up again later (I’ve not actually looked at my stats, other than on the homepage, but my subscribers have certainly dropped off of late.)
Every teacher I’ve spoken to today has said the same thing…, “une semaine… c’est tout, on y arrivera!” We are all exhausted Alex… it has been a very long 13 week pull through though…!
I agree with you about Notes, I’m hoping to make a little more impact starting this time next week! 🤞🏽
Have a fantastic weekend. I hope you’re over the jet lag and that you don’t have the violent storms forecast that we do… looks like it could get very wild here tomorrow afternoon!
You’ve cheered me up today with your words. I was listening to a programme on Radio 4 last night about gene therapy for visual impairment, where a girl spoke movingly about the miraculous improvement she’s experienced in her peripheral vision.
Your writing reminded me that watching nature is mostly done like that, at the periphery and the limits of our awareness. We might glimpse an otter, a porpoise or a dolphin breaking the surface, by accident and as you say, in nature’s time.
Isn’t poetry a little like that too?
By the way I’m glad it wasn’t a mink!!
Poetry really is like that, yes! It can sneak up on us, or appear when least expected, too. For me, watching nature is also about watching time, looking back through all those signs and traces, but also looking forward, working out where would be best to be rewarded with a view, with an encounter. In my experience, having a home patch that you regularly walk (or sit, I'm a big fan of just being out in nature, sitting quietly and letting it come to you), can really lead to many wonderful experiences. Once you are familiar with your local wildlife, recognising their appearance in other places is almost subliminal, a language which you carry with you wherever you go. Bird alarm calls are such an example. Here, currently in Thailand, I can recognise a few alarm calls, but the specifics are still lost on me--I do know something the birds consider dangerous is near, however, and that can be useful.
The European mink is quite different to its North American cousin--I've seen several of the latter, in England and Scotland but never one of the former (their range is much reduced and the UK is not a part of it). I think the main issue with the escapees (whether deliberately released by well-meaning but also idiotic anti-fur farm protesters, or accidentally because they're so good at escaping) is that they evolved in place where nature provides a constant freezer for much of the year--they kill far more than they can eat, not through wanting to waste it, but because they know they can go back and eat it later. Only, in the UK, they can't. The European mink doesn't do this, it is more like an otter or stoat in that aspect, as far as I know. I did read recently that the spread and rise in otter numbers in the UK has meant the damage by the mink has lessened in some areas, much like the spread and rise in pine martens is terrorising the grey squirrel. Nature usually has a way to deal with things, if only we let her!
Thanks again for this comment, I really love what you say about poetry and the peripheral.