tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76735559018239399862024-02-19T03:34:39.295+00:00Salt TrailsSalt Trails is a collaboration that originated in the desire to create work for Salthouse, through relationship with place and people. The aim of Salt Trails is to create a highly flexible dialogue about the encroaching salt sea on the coastline at Salthouse.Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-17212455169981708142011-08-03T17:57:00.013+01:002011-08-03T18:37:32.473+01:00New Trails<div style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b>If you are new to Salt Trails, welcome and we look forward to sharing walks, conversations and experiences. </b></span><b><span style="font-size: small;">If you have joined us before we look forward to walking with you again soon.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It's been </span><span style="font-size: small;">a whole year since the last posting - we must have been very busy! Lots of walking and conversations have taken place, they haven't been recorded here probably because they are still in progress. We are still keen to share and find out how the wind affects people and places.</span></div><div style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">We will be </span><span style="font-size: small;">at COAST </span><span style="font-size: small;">doing more Wind Mapping activities October 15th - 30th </span><span style="font-size: small;">as part of<a href="http://www.casaf.co.uk/"> Cromer and Sheringham Arts Festival </a> </span></div><div style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>October 15th </b>new Wind Diaries will be placed at the Beach shelter, West Runton </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and Cliff Top Cafe Overstrand. Share your pictures, stories and comments about the weather during the month.</span></div><div style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>October 22nd</b> a Kite Making workshop will take place at Overstrand Parish Hall with kite flying at 12 noon and 4p.m.<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>October 29th</b> Wind walks will take place from Overstrand and West Runton. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> We will exchange the wind diaries at Cromer and </span><span style="font-size: small;">meet for a picnic lunch. Leaving at 11a.m. this will be about a 5 mile walk, sharing stories and experiences about the wind along the coast path. The return journey can be made on the Coast Hopper bus</span></div><div style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To let us know how many people are coming go to the online <a href="http://fairtradematerialmatters.org/tinc?key=33Sfyc3U&formname=SaltTrailsBooking">booking form</a></span></div>Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-32494263660487378012010-09-24T15:45:00.007+01:002011-08-03T18:01:35.918+01:00West Runton Wind Diary<span style="color: #336666; font-family: verdana;"><br />
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<div style="font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #336666;"><b>What was it like at West Runton today? How was the wind? Fierce? Gentle? How did it move the waves, the grasses, the sand? Did it whisper or did it roar? How did it feel on your cheeks? Did your hat blow away? Did the sand blow into your sandwiches and make them gritty?</b></span> </div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: verdana; text-align: justify;">We would like to know the answers to all of these questions! You can add pictures and writing to the diary at West Runton Shelter, and you can add photographs and stories to this blog.</div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: verdana;">This Wind Project will run from September 25th to October 17th. You can drop in at any time and participate, and there will also be three organised events:</div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><b>Sunday 3rd October: Wind Art Day</b></div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Be inspired by the wind! We will be making pennant flags to fly in the wind at West Runton Shelter incorporating your stories, drawings and paintings. 11am – 3pm</div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><b>Sunday 10th October: Walking conversation<br />
</b></div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;">To coincide with 10:10, the international campaign to cut carbon emissions, we invite you to take part in a walking conversation about wind energy, its destructive force and its creative potential. 11am – 3pm approx.</div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;">The website about 10:10 is here, we will link to the international events on the day<a href="http://www.350.org/" target="_blank" title="10/10/10"> http://www.350.org/</a></div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><b>Sunday 17th October: Wind Mapping Day</b></div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Come and make a giant pattern on the beach at West Runton showing the changes in wind direction over the past month at West Runton. 11am – 3pm</div><div style="color: #336666; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">For more about the Cromer-Sheringham festival see http://www.casaf.co.uk/<br />
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</span>Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-38451304539855237642010-05-25T18:20:00.014+01:002010-05-25T21:27:40.226+01:00Salt Trails 2010<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Welcome back after a long break from the Salt Trails blog to a new season of walks and conversations.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Linked to the exhibition 'Abrasion' at <a href="http://maps.google.com/local_url?q=http://www.kingofhearts.org.uk/&dq=-&cid=1432037294435652114&hl=en&cd=1&ei=lAf8S83JL9S8jAfa6KnJDg&ved=0CF4Q5AQ&sa=X&s=ANYYN7my0lHVJlPyipO6ZeySwdZkw6-ONQ">King of Hearts</a>, Norwich</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> we are offering two walking conversations at Happisburgh North Norfolk on 19th and 20th June.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Why is conversation so different when you are on a walk with someone?</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">What changes when you talk about a place that you are actually experiencing with all of your senses?</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">What happens if you broaden your idea of conversation to include the conversation with the landscape as well as conversation about the landscape?</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Come and find out.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">For more information and the booking form </span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://fairtradematerialmatters.org/tinc?key=33Sfyc3U&formname=SaltTrailsWalks">click here</a></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Please let others know, we are really looking forward to this season of walks and conversations.</span></span></span></span></div>Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-74591950449501613742009-10-01T23:31:00.003+01:002009-10-11T15:58:21.810+01:00<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Tall Timothy said:<br /><br />Salt House<br /><br />A bee-wolf eats wasps<br />Honeysuckle grows bold<br />The sea is breathing sand<br /><br />A paper world is plundered<br />Woodbine twines to heaven<br />Sand is breathing water<br /><br />A mansion is destroyed<br />A river of flowers is trumpeted<br />Wave and stone are one</span>lizmcgowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12587583328358238592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-29661607898102778112009-08-04T08:08:00.011+01:002009-08-06T21:11:53.761+01:00Conversely<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="left"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,102);font-family:arial;" >Salt irritates, heals, preserves, and centuries ago was a currency of reward.</span><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,102);font-family:arial;" >We marked our trails of crystallised perceptions; some of them preserved, some rolled into the surf or lifted away in the wind; being our reward, or perhaps our irritation.</span><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,102);font-family:arial;" >While Hamish Fulton and Richard Long made an artistic practice of walking solo, we found our work as a little group, feeling the place through our stride-rhythms, jazz-improvising stitch-lines and figures of speech to hold together the seams between sand and waves, land and sky, nevermore and always. </span><br /><br /></div></span></span><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(51,102,102)"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-S_wI5y3oConminuGsncI4M9SvFCLiFx-8hbNcE-r9pQxN86fE56Dv_QG0e9M2lUYOIT5ypu8vrijA1tfFU7zl1f9UYBD_HKYJm2hyQ7k8C-GslhAGI16qbYFAEZgQEyxWzwSu_enxk/s1600-h/IMG_0950.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 293px; HEIGHT: 230px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366002964835087346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-S_wI5y3oConminuGsncI4M9SvFCLiFx-8hbNcE-r9pQxN86fE56Dv_QG0e9M2lUYOIT5ypu8vrijA1tfFU7zl1f9UYBD_HKYJm2hyQ7k8C-GslhAGI16qbYFAEZgQEyxWzwSu_enxk/s320/IMG_0950.JPG" /></a></span></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="left"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,102);font-family:arial;" >Imagining risen seas - a future whirlpool, made by spiral walking. </span><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,102);font-family:arial;" >Dave Pritchard, 12 July.</span><br /></div></span><p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></p>DEPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154125955149945847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-37852184949583801912009-07-27T12:05:00.013+01:002009-08-04T15:27:16.611+01:00the paths people take<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-Vac9MYezPDwDEHQLpcCjRM1JyKqmaVkUXEYJwrD12MvVgky96SQ2SuJShEJpXknSeTtuJjNJ32EyesorvsMOrw7t5XaaN7fMimVRFR_a3VGawPNAY0cuqBwTEstp2BCHbmj_IeZ-c8/s1600-h/Eric's+SSB+photos+005+small.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-Vac9MYezPDwDEHQLpcCjRM1JyKqmaVkUXEYJwrD12MvVgky96SQ2SuJShEJpXknSeTtuJjNJ32EyesorvsMOrw7t5XaaN7fMimVRFR_a3VGawPNAY0cuqBwTEstp2BCHbmj_IeZ-c8/s320/Eric's+SSB+photos+005+small.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363097343637239106" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >This reminds me that things also have their own paths - if, for example you join razor shells, end to end, the line begins to curve, and I have been thinking about reeds, the paths they would travel if you joined them end to end...<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTw-5a9qQ144fqQGVgMya9ECI-U-LNi9g0Wt1mYCSM2M8tysOsVERZNf50eFsLmgOfvo1m7C5eXCWCE0e7GH1rUynBNi090GS8LH0A6AFrymniMNDX9MsD_tBn5VeXSz36dNV3fJIzZM/s1600-h/Razor+6+small.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 156px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTw-5a9qQ144fqQGVgMya9ECI-U-LNi9g0Wt1mYCSM2M8tysOsVERZNf50eFsLmgOfvo1m7C5eXCWCE0e7GH1rUynBNi090GS8LH0A6AFrymniMNDX9MsD_tBn5VeXSz36dNV3fJIzZM/s320/Razor+6+small.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363097001100330258" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Like razor shells, they seem at first glance to be straight, but they are not. We might think that we walk in fairly straight lines, but we don't.....</span><br /></div>lizmcgowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12587583328358238592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-49542282930579243232009-07-23T11:33:00.002+01:002009-08-04T15:33:55.336+01:00Drawing threads together<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSSx1H887U3lKtyvsAIr9EHnmqCvQGrbuHKqdGH_iY-j653gWHJeWkO2B0wlG0Sd6ia6lkmEg_L9h2Opk2mle-4hiHxxpEAN6UYRlQjOYNf0HiAfZ14zfzdGDdhvuSzPy-XuSKSCXv_gX/s1600-h/walk4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 78px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSSx1H887U3lKtyvsAIr9EHnmqCvQGrbuHKqdGH_iY-j653gWHJeWkO2B0wlG0Sd6ia6lkmEg_L9h2Opk2mle-4hiHxxpEAN6UYRlQjOYNf0HiAfZ14zfzdGDdhvuSzPy-XuSKSCXv_gX/s320/walk4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361719684697077618" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Play can be serious fun, at different times walks were funny and challenging. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The people, land, shoreline and sea have been filled with stories and I find myself weaving a Salt Trails cloth.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Drawing together walkers, places, flotsam and jetsam, images and threads of conversations.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">There are long strands, a warp, of the route we took.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">There are the shorter, weft like threads, which make the crossings and relationships found on walks.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">There are even more fragile ones, almost invisible, which may be the </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">silences or clouds passing over.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Potential for a treble, or even quadruple layered cloth comes to mind, where there are some threads that appear occasionally. They are the stitching cloth, holding layers together, not always in an obvious pattern.<br />The crossings like those of Indra's net, reflecting all</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> the </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">new ways of hearing, seeing and perceiving. They are reminders of </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">walks taken and people known, or conversations and journeys that will be taken in future.</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ypeeW7fJu50tWjWhiuAJ-mFgRTKPdhFzYxg1NQdRXWayaxx0gv_9D0_XvEVb2hf0e9elAUDqa-BFPXtusflEJERFyuzswA69WjMFDmQ7h1w-kgbACbcNBcJgfFxdhRbW37sRWFHs5QWn/s1600-h/walk5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 111px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ypeeW7fJu50tWjWhiuAJ-mFgRTKPdhFzYxg1NQdRXWayaxx0gv_9D0_XvEVb2hf0e9elAUDqa-BFPXtusflEJERFyuzswA69WjMFDmQ7h1w-kgbACbcNBcJgfFxdhRbW37sRWFHs5QWn/s320/walk5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361722582821430370" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div>Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-39460962033088908512009-07-22T21:12:00.000+01:002009-07-22T23:10:40.754+01:00Portland Cement<div style="text-align: justify;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtUDZ12bQl-ps0YEJ8mxMO7pgVHrgFHkwmj8O4A_My0dmZaSd8j7xPqG2E9MpFp1DEEXYIqcxbJV-v1beaFsmcM-F6-9EnIHWn7HqbWH6aTYJKz3M8am-H5w8gDwFy_f2jigMSnBhrSKy/s1600-h/IMG_2825_Lo01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtUDZ12bQl-ps0YEJ8mxMO7pgVHrgFHkwmj8O4A_My0dmZaSd8j7xPqG2E9MpFp1DEEXYIqcxbJV-v1beaFsmcM-F6-9EnIHWn7HqbWH6aTYJKz3M8am-H5w8gDwFy_f2jigMSnBhrSKy/s320/IMG_2825_Lo01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361385775311789458" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">On the July 12th walk we spent a little while discussing the Rocket House and the possibility that a piece of masonry was made with Portland cement rather than the older lime mortar. I think the <a href="http://www.salthousehistory.co.uk/folly.html">Rocket House </a>was built in the 1850’s, but perhaps someone can clarify the date.</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">So a bit of history: Portland cement was patented by Joseph Aspdin between 1825 and 1828 and was widely manufactured by 1852. Portland cement possessed much greater strength than lime mortar and so became widely used. So much so that Sir Joseph Bazalgette specified that the London sewers, constructed between 1859 – 1866, should be built using it. Incidentally Portland cement has nothing to do with Portland, apart from an aspiration that it should be as strong as Portland stone.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">If the Rocket House were built in the 1850’s then it is possible that it used Portland cement.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">I have been on three of the walks now and really enjoyed them all. If I find time I'll add something about that, rather than this techy stuff.</span></span></div>Tim Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00279905221071818336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-31582251073839899672009-07-19T13:35:00.000+01:002009-07-22T09:42:06.826+01:00Indra's Net<p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Francis Harold Cook describes the metaphor of Indra's net from the perspective of the Huayan school in the book <i>Hua-Yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra</i>:</span></p><div> </div><table style="border-style: none; margin: auto 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(51, 102, 102); text-align: left;font-family:verdana;" class="cquote"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: left;font-size:35px;" valign="top" width="20"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></td> <td style="padding: 4px 10px; text-align: justify;" valign="top"><span style="font-size:85%;">'Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infintely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each "eye" of the net, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars in the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected <i>all</i> the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that there is an infinite reflecting process occurring.</span>'</td></tr></tbody></table>lizmcgowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12587583328358238592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-79628443893994828842009-07-13T13:00:00.000+01:002009-07-22T09:45:31.214+01:00Extract from "The Slow Coach" by Claire Appleby<div class="post-145 post hentry category-uncategorized tag-conversation tag-life-coaching tag-slow-food tag-transition-towns entry"><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div face="verdana" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="post-meta"><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><h2 style="text-align: justify;" class="post-title" id="post-145"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://theslowcoach.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/conversations-with-nature/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Conversations with Nature">Conversations with Nature</a></span></h2> <p class="post-metadata"><span style="font-size:85%;">13 July 2009 </span> </p> </div> <div class="post-content"><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="snap_preview"><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">On Saturday I spent the day in conversation while enjoying a gentle stroll around the landscape at Salthouse, on the north Norfolk coast. This “walking conversation” was organised by the artists <a href="http://www.lizmcgowan.com/index.htm" target="_blank">Liz McGowan</a> and <a href="http://frostart.co.uk/" target="_blank">Jane Frost</a> as part of their <a href="http://www.salttrails.org/" target="_blank">Salt Trails</a><em>about</em> the land, and also between the walkers <em>and</em> the land. The idea of conversing with the land, and with nature, has also been proposed by <a href="http://www.netfuture.org/2002/Jan1002_127.html" target="_blank">Stephen Talbott</a>. Conversation is a way of engaging with things that recognises that they are always changing. Talbott suggests that both nature and humans exist “only through continual self-transformation”, and that a “satisfying conversation is neither rigidly programmed nor chaotic; somewhere between perfect order and total surprise we look for a creative tension, a progressive and mutual deepening of insight, a sense that were are getting somewhere worthwhile”. Unfortunately, humans love stability. We feel more secure if we believe that things will not change. Our scientific and managerial processes are based on the assumption that there are clear ‘facts’, simple cause and effect relationships, and a ‘best’ way to do everything. And much of our behaviour towards nature is more like a proclamation than a conversation – we stride into the landscape, declare our viewpoint, our desires and our expectations, and then leave again without pausing to discover the effect on our listeners. project. It was one of a series of conversations between walkers </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">By contrast, an ecological conversation, like many conversations with people that we do not know well, starts with a few cautious questions. Talbott suggests that every “experimental gardening technique, every new industrial process, every different kind of bird feeder is a question put to nature”. I have, for example, <a href="http://theslowcoach.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/the-value-of-slow/" target="_blank">already described</a> my ‘conversation’ with my garden. Due to our ignorance, our question may cause trouble, but it is this ignorance that we are trying to remedy through our conversation. More sensitive questions emerge through our deepening understanding of the ‘person’ with whom we converse. As a result, are conversation is creative, inventive, producing new possibilities for interaction that did not exist before. Talbott also notes that conversation always takes place between individuals, not abstractions or stereotypes. We cannot converse with an abstract ‘industrialist’ or ‘environmentalist’ but only with a specific individual who will not conform precisely to any label. Similarly, we cannot converse with a ‘wetland’ or a ‘threatened species’ but only with the very particular locality or individual animal or plant with which we engage. This is why movements such as Transition Towns and Slow Food must be grassroots movements. They can only develop successfully by engaging in ecological conversations with the immediate, and unique, locality within which they are embedded.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The life coaching process is also a conversation. It is a conversation between two unique individuals through which we both deepen our knowledge and produce creative insights that move us both forward. The client moves towards a more creative, more fulfilled and more sustainable life, while the coach progressively develops a more effective and more insightful coaching process.</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;" >http://theslowcoach.wordpress.com</span></span><p></p></div> </div> </div>lizmcgowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12587583328358238592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-32837393948023131232009-07-08T14:46:00.000+01:002009-07-08T14:51:23.002+01:00fragments of conversation<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">the language of birdsong, of art and of science</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">mole motorways and insect paths</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">the myriad histories carried by the land</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">a butterfly emerging from the skull of a deer</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">the smell of musk thistles</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">the eternal shift of the coastline and the human desire for stability</span><br /></span>lizmcgowanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12587583328358238592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-89506068814778118662009-07-08T10:15:00.000+01:002009-07-08T12:41:18.019+01:00Trails and traces<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0TYQHi7t8FpdEEMMLDXoepDh7QMls0AkvqAXKV7rpXtRifPZcIirMoquabo84fxIPCDJsRbBj5HBzE9jzAaX7D8n-McCE4dP5KtGjRkl7QGJ3f5H4Ln4egKZX0EmkVjjeou6mSFItq0x/s1600-h/trail2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 108px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0TYQHi7t8FpdEEMMLDXoepDh7QMls0AkvqAXKV7rpXtRifPZcIirMoquabo84fxIPCDJsRbBj5HBzE9jzAaX7D8n-McCE4dP5KtGjRkl7QGJ3f5H4Ln4egKZX0EmkVjjeou6mSFItq0x/s320/trail2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356046152247687730" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The first walks took place in sunshine and light winds, this made exchanges between people and places easier and </span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-family:verdana;">really enjoyable.</span></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIIBDCxg7r_XsBJaqICzuCVP4ryo9eigLygYM7KDuNcZxlNQ6rOBDKXcmK8JHorNPv5QbkMMzz0k_H7cbGt4B52CBBjGkLm8s5m3Ftx3aiyDg_Uf5jlU_xzHw6fqYlOLp82d3Sgwk8x1p/s1600-h/traIl4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIIBDCxg7r_XsBJaqICzuCVP4ryo9eigLygYM7KDuNcZxlNQ6rOBDKXcmK8JHorNPv5QbkMMzz0k_H7cbGt4B52CBBjGkLm8s5m3Ftx3aiyDg_Uf5jlU_xzHw6fqYlOLp82d3Sgwk8x1p/s320/traIl4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356048063051141122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ajiF4Im6c1iUIuCPO8241Ech8IivWa4lb0aAqT7dahsRH5Dp5Cxk59ZsADG8PUUU399quhn3IL7sfayqzlx3sr5ey0jCDgYwFvUcBf9FMj1Pi12mxmJtUwWqBdOyaUclUs1YgbfVjFEb/s1600-h/trail3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 91px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ajiF4Im6c1iUIuCPO8241Ech8IivWa4lb0aAqT7dahsRH5Dp5Cxk59ZsADG8PUUU399quhn3IL7sfayqzlx3sr5ey0jCDgYwFvUcBf9FMj1Pi12mxmJtUwWqBdOyaUclUs1YgbfVjFEb/s320/trail3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356048427975462642" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Conversations and stories shared on the trail revealed many links between walkers, localities and interests, as well differences in experiences and skills. I begin to have a sense of pattern that might emerge from Salt Trails. </span></span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIIBDCxg7r_XsBJaqICzuCVP4ryo9eigLygYM7KDuNcZxlNQ6rOBDKXcmK8JHorNPv5QbkMMzz0k_H7cbGt4B52CBBjGkLm8s5m3Ftx3aiyDg_Uf5jlU_xzHw6fqYlOLp82d3Sgwk8x1p/s1600-h/traIl4.jpg"> </a><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIV0XL-x4rGcGpH7jfV3ZAMrb-0ne0f2hg34ADJ4j4ewt3a5bzo01kr4aQwaZxHHafz2zjxbGYNQoQePM5MJw_axyX_QzI9R9ZMJiEJfhIMbXNgy0aP4R8RuHbyYYI2dArXCpjcALGo-5e/s1600-h/trail1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 98px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIV0XL-x4rGcGpH7jfV3ZAMrb-0ne0f2hg34ADJ4j4ewt3a5bzo01kr4aQwaZxHHafz2zjxbGYNQoQePM5MJw_axyX_QzI9R9ZMJiEJfhIMbXNgy0aP4R8RuHbyYYI2dArXCpjcALGo-5e/s320/trail1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356044808250067842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;" >Traces of the trails are evident in the church porch</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span>Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673555901823939986.post-49030510482237390792009-06-30T10:08:00.001+01:002009-06-30T12:43:35.174+01:00Salt Trails at Salthouse 09<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkhRjNyD6rquwsaJBRB8PFJz373mL8PlabDygyKDB1s8ypCWMJoSvNwer4ZtGOfwEiexo37NeOfhan3IM97PnWCJba9Uv3t6IwtEC5YnWSCjuC_ODU-07nNOl5VK4PlMruL4GkcTyABQc/s1600-h/Stitchcopy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 48px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkhRjNyD6rquwsaJBRB8PFJz373mL8PlabDygyKDB1s8ypCWMJoSvNwer4ZtGOfwEiexo37NeOfhan3IM97PnWCJba9Uv3t6IwtEC5YnWSCjuC_ODU-07nNOl5VK4PlMruL4GkcTyABQc/s320/Stitchcopy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353060709029210978" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">These are the first steps of Salt Trails </span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-family:verdana;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">Salthouse 09 walks will start on Saturday 4th July. Places are still available, the <a href="http://salttrails.org/tinc?key=33Sfyc3U&formname=SaltTrailsBooking">booking form to register interest</a> is here.</span></span><br /></div>Jane Frosthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06526323105278122748noreply@blogger.com0