After a very nice start to the day me and the whole family went out to the Durham Woods River Walk. The River Wear was raised up a little but the water was very clear indicating some of the snow that had occurred in the Upper Northern Pennines was melting already. Very nice and a superb backdrop to the lovely Little Grebe diving up and down amongst the reeds on the far side of the bank. The sporty Durham Students were out and about today and it was nice to see a lot of male and female freshfaced youngsters being eagerly boisterous and competing. I don't do any sport but I think it is a very good thing and over the years have offered various activities such as Judo to the boys but they never wanted to do that sort of thing they were more interested in skateboarding and hiking. Good lads!
Onward into the gorge which curves around Durham Cathedral and we had a good look at the vertical rockface which drops straight into the River Wear in only a 50 m section the other parts of the gorge have been quarried back over the centuries to provide stone for the Cathedral as well as local buildings. Very interesting. Just beneath Prebend Bridge weir there were a pair of Goosanders roosting on the water minding their own business with a bit of preening here and there but away from them was a juvenile Goosander hunting very vigourously. Must be going through a growth spurt!
Biscuit break was on our usual perch right in the centre of the Market Square underneath the statue but when we nipped over to Tesco's to get some treats for this evening Fiona's eye was caught by a gorgeous market stall full of very attractive clothing for what I would say would be young female students but the Fur Cape she saw really caught her eye and she had that eminently attractive fixed look of "I would like this please" so she tried it on and looked absolutely beautiful, very twee, and is going to wear it at the Butterknowle Open Mike night tomorrow. My wife's occasional compulsions are very attractive and she looked lovely.
Under a brightening sky walking into a milky setting sun amongst the clouds we made our way back to Shincliffe. We were quite lively today which was nice and Fiona was feeling better so when we got back and saw the latest Leonard Cohen CD plonked on our doormat we were very happy and immediately got everything in and went and crashed out to have a listen to it. It was lovely music thoughtful, mature and very musically sophisticated but in a simplistic way. That man just gets better with age and I sincerely hope that with whatever talent I have I can follow in his footsteps. A lovely afternoon out.
Saturday 28 January 2012
Well, another Saturday morning with my usual early start because I cannot sleep in, in the morning. I've done some singing practice and an hour of mathematics but I am not sure whether it is worth doing much more mathematics in the formal, practising and keeping up for teaching kids sense because the more I write and type using my remaining good hand the sorer it gets. Last week I looked up about RSI for about the thousandth time and realised that I should take care with my attempts to "cure" my problem because whether I like it or not typing and writing whilst giving me RSI over the years also seems to leave my grip a bit weaker and a certain sort of weird numbness comes into the hand as well. It restores itself usually by the next morning but it is a tiny bit worrying because I only have one good hand and arm! Absolutely nothing else gives me this problem which slightly amazes me because I am so fit being able to throw myself around a lot of miles in the hills and mountains in the North. In fact I like throwing myself around the hills!
It truly makes me wonder but the simple fact is even if I do not go and be a Mathematics Teacher there are plenty of jobs working with Mentally Handicapped people in the North East. There is even all sorts of part-time work which is understandable because most unemployed people will not be able to take it up because their benefits will cease and also most of the jobs require a car. Because of Fiona's pension I can do any job I want to part or full-time. There was one as a housekeeper for the RSPB Reserve at Saltholme on Teeside that I would quite enjoy because it is an amazing place to be and there is a good team of full-time workers, part-time and volunteers.
It is quite strange because there is a lot of unemployment and it is rising but the same jobs with mentally handicapped people keep coming up again and again and I wonder if there is a cultural and understanding barrier to working with mentally handicapped people in the North East. Right from my time working pretty much full time in Juniper Communities a home for mentally handicapped people in York from 1983 on until 1986 when I attended York University, I found working with mentally handicapped people rewarding, good fun and just downright interesting. It is strange when I think about it because if I go for one of these jobs and I think I should because I have no good reason to be in the house any more, our lads have all the skills and more that they will need to wend their way through the world and the training of them that I have to deploy now as a father is more to do with general advice and influence rather than having to be there with them. With Fiona due to retire certainly by the end of this year she can take Miles down to the RKade skate park three times a week and besides this is only going to occur for another 18 months and then he will be either working as a Secondary School teacher or doing his Ph.D. in mathematics so he can teach in a University. Good lad.
It is interesting, I like to think I can think things through and get my life more or less right which I have done pretty much since the 1980s but I find it a little bit challenging at the moment which is weird because in the 1980s I never had what I have now, a lovely wife and family and complete financial security , but this situation is more to do with living in the way that I want to within the physical constraints of my handicap, the RSI that I suffer from and just struggling to get a job like everybody else! I also have a strong desire to keep my music skills up which I have neglected to the point that my harmonica playing is declining. I started the correct practice routine yesterday of going through all 12 keys and doing jazz studies and that is the remedy and I do not have to do a lot of practice so my harmonica should keep going.
But I wonder what for? The simple fact is I cannot find anybody to play with and when I have played with some guitarists in the north-east they are just absolutely scared stiff because it goes against their sense of the guitar player always has to sound the best right? I think that is not the best foundation for becoming a really good player it is really best to just do one's best and not have some weird local personal assumption that because you are standing there with an instrument called a guitar you might be anywhere remotely near as good as the greats like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. I can play most of the stuff the top harmonica players play as well as having an original sound based on my general quirkiness! I guess I just have a different approach to a lot of the musicians that I know because I want to play with my own musical voice and something original rather than the copycat approach which I hear so often with north-east musicians.
It is a vexed question I guess which comes down to personal style and possibly explains why I don't get playing with anybody! Total respect to all musicians that I know but please don't whinge on about wanting to make it or desiring attention if you are not prepared to practice and play in an extraordinary way that captures peoples attention. One thing I liked about playing in York Irish Sessions was that there were a handful of absolutely brilliant musicians who could not care less that they were technically and musically extremely good. In many respects they were the musicians I respected the most. On the other hand at the other end of the talent pool the Button Hole Jam who love music but do not take it too seriously I absolutely love their approach and sound as well and not only that, considering their age every time I hear them they sound different, tighter and definitely on some sort of improving curve. Good stuff and it goes to show that no matter how old you are if you just love the music and are prepared to put the practice in and they certainly do you do get better. It humbles me sometimes because I am not putting in the practice at the moment and according to the good old law of "no practice no good" I am losing my skills.
Anyway, the end of public introspection. Doesn't that sound like so much twaddle! But, I feel I have clarified some things to myself and am looking forward to a great day!
It truly makes me wonder but the simple fact is even if I do not go and be a Mathematics Teacher there are plenty of jobs working with Mentally Handicapped people in the North East. There is even all sorts of part-time work which is understandable because most unemployed people will not be able to take it up because their benefits will cease and also most of the jobs require a car. Because of Fiona's pension I can do any job I want to part or full-time. There was one as a housekeeper for the RSPB Reserve at Saltholme on Teeside that I would quite enjoy because it is an amazing place to be and there is a good team of full-time workers, part-time and volunteers.
It is quite strange because there is a lot of unemployment and it is rising but the same jobs with mentally handicapped people keep coming up again and again and I wonder if there is a cultural and understanding barrier to working with mentally handicapped people in the North East. Right from my time working pretty much full time in Juniper Communities a home for mentally handicapped people in York from 1983 on until 1986 when I attended York University, I found working with mentally handicapped people rewarding, good fun and just downright interesting. It is strange when I think about it because if I go for one of these jobs and I think I should because I have no good reason to be in the house any more, our lads have all the skills and more that they will need to wend their way through the world and the training of them that I have to deploy now as a father is more to do with general advice and influence rather than having to be there with them. With Fiona due to retire certainly by the end of this year she can take Miles down to the RKade skate park three times a week and besides this is only going to occur for another 18 months and then he will be either working as a Secondary School teacher or doing his Ph.D. in mathematics so he can teach in a University. Good lad.
It is interesting, I like to think I can think things through and get my life more or less right which I have done pretty much since the 1980s but I find it a little bit challenging at the moment which is weird because in the 1980s I never had what I have now, a lovely wife and family and complete financial security , but this situation is more to do with living in the way that I want to within the physical constraints of my handicap, the RSI that I suffer from and just struggling to get a job like everybody else! I also have a strong desire to keep my music skills up which I have neglected to the point that my harmonica playing is declining. I started the correct practice routine yesterday of going through all 12 keys and doing jazz studies and that is the remedy and I do not have to do a lot of practice so my harmonica should keep going.
But I wonder what for? The simple fact is I cannot find anybody to play with and when I have played with some guitarists in the north-east they are just absolutely scared stiff because it goes against their sense of the guitar player always has to sound the best right? I think that is not the best foundation for becoming a really good player it is really best to just do one's best and not have some weird local personal assumption that because you are standing there with an instrument called a guitar you might be anywhere remotely near as good as the greats like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. I can play most of the stuff the top harmonica players play as well as having an original sound based on my general quirkiness! I guess I just have a different approach to a lot of the musicians that I know because I want to play with my own musical voice and something original rather than the copycat approach which I hear so often with north-east musicians.
It is a vexed question I guess which comes down to personal style and possibly explains why I don't get playing with anybody! Total respect to all musicians that I know but please don't whinge on about wanting to make it or desiring attention if you are not prepared to practice and play in an extraordinary way that captures peoples attention. One thing I liked about playing in York Irish Sessions was that there were a handful of absolutely brilliant musicians who could not care less that they were technically and musically extremely good. In many respects they were the musicians I respected the most. On the other hand at the other end of the talent pool the Button Hole Jam who love music but do not take it too seriously I absolutely love their approach and sound as well and not only that, considering their age every time I hear them they sound different, tighter and definitely on some sort of improving curve. Good stuff and it goes to show that no matter how old you are if you just love the music and are prepared to put the practice in and they certainly do you do get better. It humbles me sometimes because I am not putting in the practice at the moment and according to the good old law of "no practice no good" I am losing my skills.
Anyway, the end of public introspection. Doesn't that sound like so much twaddle! But, I feel I have clarified some things to myself and am looking forward to a great day!
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