HIVE OF INDUSTRY

Do you think about where your next meal is coming from?  If you're poor you probably do.  If you're like me the older I get the more I seem to think about food. I used to think about death all the time and then a boss suggested that I substitute death for sex and that did work for a while. But how many of us seriously think about the long view-the feeding of our planet?
     Well, Kew Gardens is trying to get us to do just that in it's sensational multi-sensory art/science installation called THE HIVE. It was commissioned by the British government and created by an English artist Wolfgang Buttress, Simmonds Studio and the Building Design Partnership. Rising to 17 meters, it is said to be a feat of British engineering. The structure highlights the importance of pollinators to our future food security. As many of the world's pollinators are different species of bees THE HIVE  dazzles us with sensory experiences to engage and connect with the plight and the flight of the wild bee. In recent years bee populations have suffered declines as habitat loss, parasites and disease, invasive species, climate change and the reduction of wildflower diversity take their toll.
      The installation is made from thousands of pieces of aluminium which create a lattice effect and is fitted with hundreds of LED lights that glow and fade as a unique soundtrack hums and buzzes around you. As part of the total experience you are invited to take a lolly stick and place it in a metal hole on a pole, put your hands over your ears and sense the vibrations of two honey bees connecting.
       The structure was inspired by the work of scientist Dr. Martin Bensik, whose pioneering research can help us understand how the buzzing of bees can indicate deterioration in a hive. In Kew, scientists and horticulturists are exploring the relationship between plants, their pollinators, and the future impact of low bee numbers on feeding our planet. Who was it who said,' Once the bees go, the human race will soon follow.' ?
       As we pushed our grandson around in his buggy after his veggie lunch in the autumnal sunshine the installation made us think about the impact of bees-or loss of them- on his future. 
       Kew Gardens has a host of talks and workshops this autumn on the importance of bees to our food supply. The installation is a wonderful example of where creative thinking and art can inspire and teach us about our science. NOT TO BE MISSED!   Visit kew/org/followkew.   Facebook. YouTube, #kewhive
 

THE BEGINNER?

Have you ever wondered what constitutes, ‘a beginner?’   The Oxford English Dictionary defines begin as ‘ 1. carry out or experience the first part of an action or activity, 2. come into being. 3. have as a starting point. ‘   So when you sign up on a beginners’ course it would be quite reasonable to expect that other people are like you, knowing nothing or little about the subject. How wrong can you be!  A woman on the beginners’ tennis course said to me on lesson two that she was really daunted by the knowledge and skills of other participants. She’d thought that we’d all be real beginners. Well, that’s because some of the women have been on the beginners’ course for the past three years. They are good!  One woman has such a strong forehand that I’ve still not been able to return a shot from her in three lessons. She must be secretly thinking that she could be knitting a Fair Isle sweater, writing a sonnet or cooking a roast dinner while she waits for a return from me.  

     I’ve signed up for all manner of courses in my time that have been described as for beginners. One art course was described as, ’art for the terrified.’  With that title surely no improver or accomplished artist is going to sign up?  Although I suppose any creative person may be terrified at the sight of a piece of plain white paper and the need to fill it by the end of the morning. As a writer I’ve experienced that sort of terror, especially if you have a deadline imposed by an exacting tutor, but surely ‘art for the terrified’ implies a fear of making that first mark on the paper; a beginner  perhaps traumatised by a school art teacher who threw all her creations into the bin or a critical parent who could never bring himself to praise a young child’s efforts at painting her family as hippopotami with golden dread locks. But no, in ‘art for the terrified,’ there were people who’d been in the class for a decade. The humiliation at the end of the lesson when the teacher insisted we all put out our work to share.  There was my pathetic attempt at a drawing of a conker when their autumnal  still life could have made the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition.

     Being in a mixed class with a range of experience can work but it can mean as the beginner you have to work much harder to keep up. Rhys went along to Church Bell Ringing. He was one of two absolute beginners and there was so much to understand, learn and remember, he decided it wasn’t for him. The other beginner wasn’t sure if it was for her either.  Shame at not getting it right in such a public forum as a bell ringing circle or your conker looking like a sputnik in a still life class is not just embarrassing  it can fill you with feelings of not being good enough and  negative thoughts that you thought you’d overcome years ago leak out.

      So why do people who are actually skilled and accomplished place themselves on these courses or continue to repeat the beginners’ course even though they’ve progressed way ahead of what could be fairly described as such?  Is it lack of confidence and modesty or one up-man-ship? Better to be top of the pecking order in the sweet knowledge that no other beginner is going to be better than you rather than have to put yourself outside your own comfort zone. Doesn’t matter how that feels for others in the beginners’ class. Or could it be that you find a good teacher who you like and who likes you, sees your potential, you fall in love, and are not able to let the other go or move on?

GRANNY WITHOUT A CAUSE

It’s taking me a bit of time to get attuned to a life of hedonism. This is some thing  I never  thought I would say as I’m someone usually up for a good time. And I couldn’t wait to have a break from counselling work. I was feeling burnt out. Some have called it compassion fatigue.   But having no work structure and having 24/7 available for fun, self- improvement, hobbies, days out etc, has meant I feel kind of guilty if I’m not out there enjoying myself in the sunshine. But I also feel guilty cos that’s all I’m doing. You could blame it on a Catholic upbringing. My brother calls this kind of life of time filling - ‘padding’- and I can see what he means.  For the past month we’ve been padding ourselves with a diet of culture, sightseeing, activities and events.

    In our first month we’ve devoured the University of the Third Age’s programme (U3A), deciding that a lot of ‘classes’ were worth trying at least once. Classes are informally lead by members with some sort of interest or knowledge in the subject, although that seems to vary.  Sessions cost from 50p to £2 depending on whether the venue is in someone’s home or in a community hall. Most of the classes are once a fortnight or once a month. Either together or alone we’ve already been to Jazz Appreciation, Country Dancing, Spanish, and Singing for Pleasure. Today I bowed out of Church Bell Ringing when I learnt I had to climb a high metal ladder leading into the tower as I can suffer from vertigo.  Rhys loves heights so that wasn’t his problem. In fact, he would have preferred to climb the bell rope than pull it.  Pulling a rope for two hours while getting to grips with the campanology code didn’t really tickle his ding-a-ling so he’s decided to go for Bird Song Listening instead. Should be a lot quieter and could potentially involve climbing.  And for me next week  it’s Play Reading.

    Arts Events have included talks organised by the Richmond Arts Society and Library Service. Rhys has been around art galleries in Cork Street and the R.A. Together we’ve been to the Tate.

    Rhys has joined Age UK Centre for Well-Being which has a broad programme for elders.  On the pretext of doing Pilates, he’ll be attending Wednesdays, ‘Roast Dinners’ sessions.  He hopes that is the eating of and not the cooking of cos he does that at home anyway on Sundays.

   I’ve joined a Tennis Club. That’s another first. I’m having group lessons with a bunch of younger women. In fact I’m probably the eldest by twenty plus years. When I mentioned the U3A most looked blank. Then one young woman remembered her ‘Granny’ used to go.   As I puff and heave myself around the court, ruby-slicked face, missing their returns, being a Granny is only too self -evident.  

    So as pleasurable as this life of padding is, it’s also totally self-indulgent; it’s not work, has no extrinsic value and makes no contribution to society whatsoever.  One of the main reasons in coming to London is to be an available Granny and I’m thrilled that’s working out well for us and our family.  But in this period of adjustment to a life of (p)leisure, I never thought I’d also be looking for a cause. I suppose you can take the granny out of causes but you can’t take a cause out of a granny. Well this granny anyway.    I’m sure there are thousands of worthwhile causes out there that don’t involve counselling adults, I just have to find the right one.