As winds roar, rain lashes and snow drops, we have been making sure that all is well with the cottage, and stocking up with supplies of wood.
Like the proverbial duck to water, Akii has taken to hauling tree trunks and cutting them into manageable lengths for drying under cover. Who would have thought it of a Tokyo boy born and bred? Being Japanese, of course, he takes it all very seriously, dressing the part with baseball cap, thick jacket, visor and gloves: “I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay, etc.” Chainsaws are not to be handled lightly, he adds darkly, and quite right too.
For my part, it felt as if January had taken off like a rocket. Compared to last year, that is. There are the Friday night DOTWW sessions, with everyone turning up early and leaving late. There was the taster workshop at The Bield with a full turnout of ten, and four more on a waiting list. Plus the Holistic Fair in Perth, which being held on a Saturday (rather than Sunday) was bigger and better than Autumn last.
The holistic fair at the Salutation (Scotland’s oldest hotel) in Perth on February 8, 2014
It was the fair in 2013 that provided me with a launch pad for my work. I saw an ad, rang a number, booked a stand and went along. I felt a bit of an oddity among the psychics, reflexologists and herbalists, but still my tiny stall – offering website (via my laptop) fliers and books – pulled people: several to the PW sessions at The Orchard, one to the first-level course in Birnam.
This time around was even better. Not only was I remembered and made to feel very welcome, but I was kept busy answering questions from 10am to 4pm. Of course eyebrows have been raised that I would even consider promoting myself in this way, but I have to start somewhere. All part of laying the foundations of a new life, I say.
Foundations need to be strong. They also need to be true, as in honest, and aligned correctly.
Which brings me to neighbour Paul’s reconstruction of the dyke leading down to the burn. Looking at it now, weathered and mossy, you would think it decades old, but in fact not so. He did the work while we were still in Japan, and periodically sent photos as he progressed.
The interesting thing was that the old wall had never seemed in balance with the stretch higher up, nearer the road. When he dismantled it and dug out the foundations, he found them angled in a slightly different direction.
“Go with the original”, I mailed, when he was wondering what to do. And guess what? The new (old) wall stands in perfect harmony with its neighbour.
Newly reconstructed in 2009, thanks to Paul Latham, whose dykes have strengthened community for many years
And so to another analogy: rebuilding my self after realizing that I was not in alignment with who I really was, what I had been born to be and do… Who I had been before the authoritarian pressures of family, society and church skewed me out of line, messed around with my own foundation of body, mind and spirit.
We need to acknowledge our foundations and strive to stay true to them. We also need to build on them as best we can.
Making sure foundations are correctly aligned and rock solid
In the meantime, winds roar, rain lashes. And even more snow drops.
