I listened to the baby's heartbeat yesterday.
It is December 28th 2007. Between Christmas and the New Year. Our baby is due sometime in the next 12 days. It has been great to be at home, we've been very quiet. Eils resting a lot and I've just been pottering about. Putting up the odd shelf, fixing the intercom, hanging the bathroom cabinet. All very low key. Waiting.
Our visit to the midwife was cosy. I think they like Eils, she's very organised and on top of what is happening - although I think she is worried about the birth. It will be her first child.
Alongside the baby's heartbeat which must run at around 160 bpm you can hear the pulse of the placenta which is a sort of rhythmic 'swooshing' sound. It all seems balanced.
Back in Edinburgh in the seventies I wrote a poem about 'the first insidious vibration of my mother's gentle heartbeat'. It was about how that basic rhythm sets you up for life. It winds you up and sets you free.
Time. The school bell. Clocks and watches. Clocking on and clocking off. Time and motion. Film at 24 frames per second. The beat. Music.
Friday 28 December 2007
Ugly Blog
The more I learn about blogs, the more I realise that I'm not blogging. I don't feel bad about that. I don't like the word 'blog' in any case. Its one of those ugly nerdy invented words that seem to occupy the online space.
I know for sure readers, that this is transitional. Sooner rather than later this language will disappear and keeping an online note of what we are doing will become just that. The way we do things. The last time I wrote an entry for All Those in Favour was in August. I'm not going to let that worry me - although it breaks all the rules of blogging.
I know for sure readers, that this is transitional. Sooner rather than later this language will disappear and keeping an online note of what we are doing will become just that. The way we do things. The last time I wrote an entry for All Those in Favour was in August. I'm not going to let that worry me - although it breaks all the rules of blogging.
Monday 27 August 2007
DNA Assembly
It has happened a couple of times now. I have found myself with a bundle of boards, brackets, rods, nuts, bolts, fittings and fixtures. They usually come out of a box with a page or two of instructions.
I built a bookshelf for my sister in law, Bins. I built two CD racks for myself and I've been building a greenhouse for my wife.
We take it for granted, but it is amazing to consider that this flat packed stuff can be transformed into useful 3-dimensional structures. Of course, it is all relatively hi-tech and is in effect a short cut - no cutting, no screwing, no pain - only the steady step by step of assembly. My advice - read the instructions (or 'destructions', as we like to call them).
The greenhouse is built now. Ready for seedlings and germination, grafting and propagation. And it is a perfect little environment for growth - warm and moist already even though it is less than a day old.
We were talking the other day at work about the DNA of organisations. I wondered whether the DNA of a flat pack is in fact the instruction sheet. Its a cheap analogy of course, but a flaw at this level can cause major structural problems later........
Of course, when we talk about DNA in a real sense, we are talking about the biological imperative - genetic material and the survival of the species through evolution.
It is sensitive territory, and possibly offensive to some. I mean to move from flat pack assembly to reproductive processes. Is there really a difference? Obviously its all a lot more complicated, but essentially there is an assembly template , some raw materials and a third party who is providing the energy to make it all happen as intended. The mother.
In pregnancy you have scans at regular intervals. A sense check on how the foetus is developing. There are measurements which let you know that all is well - the nucal fold scan for example. You can check the heart beat and the progress of the organs at twenty weeks. You can know the sex - although this is an arbitrary characteristic at the feotal stage. It is all very reassuring.
My point is that at one level it is all about assembly and process, on another it is an overwhelming biological and emotionally complex process. Or maybe just self-assembly.
An analogy will only stretch so far.
I built a bookshelf for my sister in law, Bins. I built two CD racks for myself and I've been building a greenhouse for my wife.
We take it for granted, but it is amazing to consider that this flat packed stuff can be transformed into useful 3-dimensional structures. Of course, it is all relatively hi-tech and is in effect a short cut - no cutting, no screwing, no pain - only the steady step by step of assembly. My advice - read the instructions (or 'destructions', as we like to call them).
The greenhouse is built now. Ready for seedlings and germination, grafting and propagation. And it is a perfect little environment for growth - warm and moist already even though it is less than a day old.
We were talking the other day at work about the DNA of organisations. I wondered whether the DNA of a flat pack is in fact the instruction sheet. Its a cheap analogy of course, but a flaw at this level can cause major structural problems later........
Of course, when we talk about DNA in a real sense, we are talking about the biological imperative - genetic material and the survival of the species through evolution.
It is sensitive territory, and possibly offensive to some. I mean to move from flat pack assembly to reproductive processes. Is there really a difference? Obviously its all a lot more complicated, but essentially there is an assembly template , some raw materials and a third party who is providing the energy to make it all happen as intended. The mother.
In pregnancy you have scans at regular intervals. A sense check on how the foetus is developing. There are measurements which let you know that all is well - the nucal fold scan for example. You can check the heart beat and the progress of the organs at twenty weeks. You can know the sex - although this is an arbitrary characteristic at the feotal stage. It is all very reassuring.
My point is that at one level it is all about assembly and process, on another it is an overwhelming biological and emotionally complex process. Or maybe just self-assembly.
An analogy will only stretch so far.
Saturday 20 January 2007
Tea Zen
It is fast flow for most of us most of the time. Its either physical in the way we get around, or the jobs we do, or its mental activity. The permanent buzz of that internal traffic, the never ending conversation we have with ourselves. Of course the Bhuddha spotted that aeons ago and for the monk its normal to shut down the roof chatter and empty the mind.
In the office the other day I was surprised to find myself with nothing going on. I was simply stirring the tea bag in the hot water. Standing at the bar making my mug of tea - which I like strong with a drop of milk - I was watching the pattern of bubbles on the surface. It seemed as if the universe took a deep breath.
And I walked back to my emails and feeling clean and clear.
In the office the other day I was surprised to find myself with nothing going on. I was simply stirring the tea bag in the hot water. Standing at the bar making my mug of tea - which I like strong with a drop of milk - I was watching the pattern of bubbles on the surface. It seemed as if the universe took a deep breath.
And I walked back to my emails and feeling clean and clear.
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