Some apples fell off the tree, and ... that was it!
Published: Mon, 10/28/13
Well, that was a bit of an anticlimax. All we have heard on the
news for the past couple of weeks was how the mother of all storms
was going to devastate South West England and Wales. At about 11pm
it was raining but the air was still. When I woke up this morning
the sun was shining and there were quite a lot of apples lying on
the lawn. So the wind saved me having to pick them off the trees.
Most of the apples are still on the trees. I know there are
canceled trains, the port of Dover is closed (maybe the channel
tunnel wasn't such a bad idea after all) and some people have
been without power since midnight. But apart from that not such a
big deal. I do remember the storm of 1987, I was living just
outside Cambridge at that time. I slept right through the night
(it takes a lot to wake me up once I am properly asleep) but the
next morning it was a real mess, tiles blown off roofs, anything
not fixed down turned upside down and tree branches and often whole
trees strewn everywhere. Of course the worst thing was that the
weather forecasters hadn't seen it coming and the BBC weather
forecast the previous evening was emphatic that there would be no
storm.
So real problems are unexpected. After an accident everyone can see
how it came about and there is lots of blame and criticism but how
many accidents don't happen, or create their worst case
scenario because it was possible to foresee a problem and avoid it
or at least be ready to mitigate it? I was glad to hear that
councils were making a big effort to ensure that gutters, drains
and culverts were clear and ready to cope with heavy rain. Well
done, but shouldn't that be the case all the time? The whole
point of a flood prevention system is that it is ready for the
unexpected fall of rain and can prevent a flood at any time.
A major lesson from Stav is that you can't predict the future.
You can be aware of possibilities but you cannot know which will
actually occur when. The Web of Orlog simply has too many possible
threads to make any particular outcome certain. But, if you can
read the web, which is the point of Stav training, you can see
possibilities and discover ways of reaching the outcomes you want
and avoiding the ones you don't. It takes patience,
determination and awareness, both of self and of the world but it
certainly is possible.
However you still have to deal with the unexpected. I have
promised the members of Ice and Fire that I would send them a copy
of the DVD of Ivar Hafskjold teaching at the Summer Camp in
September. But can I get the computer to burn off the discs? Can
I hell! It keeps coming up with an error message and refusing to
complete the process. So I am not keeping my promise until I solve
this problem. In the meantime I have been able to upload the video
to my online video provider so any member in a hurry can watch it
there.
There is a new piece of video at http://www.iceandfire.org showing
me introducing training in Close Quarter Combat and an update on my
plans for the Stav Centre in Somerset. At least there will be if
nothing goes wrong.
regards
Graham
PS Last Stav course this year in Evesham on the 16h of November.
If you want some hardcore unarmed HEMA training then I am one of
the teachers at the Noble Science on the following weekend near
Coventry. http://www.thenoblescience.com/