Two nations divided by a common citrus drink

Here in the UK, we’ve had a heatwave over the past four days with temperatures soaring into the 80’s.  One of my favourite summertime tipples is a shandy – half lager and half lemonade.  Lemonade as in store bought sparkling lemonade, not American style, which I will get to in a moment.

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Shandy

• Lager
• Lemonade

Mix half and half.

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And what better way to celebrate Coronation Day, 2nd June than with a feast of traditional British fayre? – a fish supper and a shandy.

God Save the Queen! and pass the vinegar

Here’s some archival footage of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 including a cast of 30,000 school children waving hankies & Union Jacks and one, notably, dressed as a telly.  The occasion has all of the expected pomp and ceremony, is narrated in the ‘Queen’s English’ and once Elizabeth walked up the aisle in Westminster Abbey, she wasn’t in Kansas any longer.

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Now for American-style lemonade, infused with Yankee optimism.

American-style lemonade

• Four lemons
• 1/3 cup sugar
• One quart ice cold tap water

Juice the lemons.  Boil about 1/2 cup of the water and mix with the sugar until the sugar dissolves.  Pour the sugar syrup and lemon juice into a quartish-size glass pitcher, fill with water, stir and enjoy!

‘When life hands you lemons, make lemonade’

Ambient Traffic

What is real and what is a dream?

Sometimes a thing, a pattern, a mood or an idea captures me and I am drawn into another experience.  I might go off momentarily into a reverie, or a new world may take shape inside of me which demands expression, never quieting until I have made a new creation.

Whilst walking across Place Flagey, late at night, in search of an ATM I noticed traffic lights, passersby and boys kicking a football around filtered through opaque glass.  Dreamy  .  .  .  .  .  .

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River Song

Sometimes, the essence of a place resonates deep within my soul.  Such a place is Watersmeet, a river crossing in the Teign Valley.  I love to pause on the footbridge spanning the river.  Looking upstream, two waterways come together.  Looking downstream, they have joined and flow together to the sea.

Watersmeet

I love the confluence, the point where the two waterways converge.  The ripples and patterns on the surface of each are distinct and sometimes one or the other is silty or clear.  Each watercourse brings its own unique personality.  When they join each other, a new river is formed.

Steve and I captured this conflux with images and words, and put them together to make River Song.

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RIVER SONG

Listen, hear our language
Spelt in ripples on rocks,
Chalked in the swirl of current
And the eddies in our stream.

Look, see our soul shine,
Fleet in dappling shades
That bind the sun and clouds
With waterlight in motion.

Touch, feel our breath,
Where waters meet at last,
Released from yearning
In the deepest depths our joining.

Rejoice, for we are river,
Fed by raindrop,
Suckled by cloud,
Maker of ocean,
Carver of life.

Steve Coxon

December 2008

Perambulation

Perambulate, v. ‘to travel over or through, especially on foot, or ‘to walk with no particular goal, to stroll, to roam . . . ‘

Perambulation, n. ‘a leisurely walk, usually in some public place’

Latin perambulatus, from per – through + ambulare – to walk

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Hanging Custard

“Long ago we humans used a form of communication
and sensing that did not involve the brain in any way;
rather it came from a sacred space within our Heart.”

My latest video is composed of transient reflections of the Custard Factory in Digbeth.  The music was given to me from Steve, my travelling companion on a journey into a newfoundland.  He heard it being played on the streets of Birmingham and followed his heart to the Hedge Monkeys.  The musicians are Daniel Waples and Danny Cudd aka the Hang Playing Hedge Monkeys.

You can learn more about hangs and how to acquire one at Hangbauhaus, Bern, Switzerland.

Festival of Quilts Vidcast

Bonnie McCaffery has just released her latest vidcast, a tour around the 2008 Festival of Quilts Exhibit in Birmingham, England.  If you weren’t lucky enough to be there, come have a look!